Dusky Grouse
© Bob Cochran
Published:
June 11, 2012
A male Dusky Grouse displays, fanning its tail, tilting its body forward, and exposing its purplish air sac. Bob Cochran of Powell, Wyoming, took the photo in Bighorn National Forest in northern Wyoming.
"A co-worker told me he was seeing Dusky Grouse doing their mating display near one of our ranger stations in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming," Bob says. "I grabbed my 600mm f4 Canon lens attached to a Canon 5D Mark II and headed to the Mountain. When I finally found the grouse, a couple of males were displaying with a female nearby. This grouse did not care that I was there. I could have used a much smaller lens as it would keep getting too close and I had to back up. I took a number of shots, and this is one that stood out. Sure was a nice afternoon in the Bighorns."
Two places to watch for Dusky Grouse:
• Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos, New Mexico
• Bear Creek Regional Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado
A picture you take could win you a subscription to
BirdWatching!
We choose a new photo every Monday. And every other month, we ask a
professional bird photographer whose work we’ve
published in the magazine to pick the best Photo of the Week over the
previous two months. We’ll give the winner a free one-year subscription
to
BirdWatching. Plus, we’ll publish his
or her photo in the magazine!
Send
us your photo today!RulesWinnersSpecies
List
Join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr!