The Famous Grouse

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The Famous Grouse
Photo Information
Copyright: Pekka Valo (pekkavalo1) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 201 W: 21 N: 759] (2333)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-03
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 40D, Sigma EX 500mm f4.5 APO HSM, RAW ISO 800, Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG 1.4x
Exposure: f/13.0, 1/60 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): CeltickRanger's favorite Grouse photos [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-05-14 4:01
Viewed: 337
Points: 42
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
A male Red Grouse at North Yorkshire Moors National Park. The figure of this bird is famous around the world for advertising a brand of Scottish drink.

The lighting conditions were quite bad as you can see from the settings, late evening and cloudy.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) is a medium sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the Willow Grouse but is sometimes considered to be a separate species Lagopus scoticus.

Description
The Red Grouse is differentiated from the Willow Grouse and Ptarmigan by its plumage being reddish brown and not having a white winter plumage. The tail is black and the legs are white. There are white stripes on the underwing and red combs over the eye. Females are less reddish than the males and have less conspicuous combs. Young birds are duller and lack the red combs.

Birds in Ireland are sometimes thought to belong to a separate subspecies L. l. hibernica. They are slightly paler than those in Britain and the females have yellower plumage with more finely barred underparts. This may be an adaptation to camouflage them in moorland with higher grass and sedge content and less heather.

It is identified by its chut!chut!chut!chut!chut!chuttt.... call, or the 'Goback, goback, goback" vocalisation. The wings make a whirring sound when the bird is disturbed from a resting place.

Grouse populations display periodic cycling, where the population builds up to very high densities only to crash a few years later, and then recover. The main driver of this cyclic pattern is thought to be the parasitic nematode worm Trichostrongylus tenuis.
However, in his book, V. C. Wynne-Edwards suggests that the primary reason for mortality in grouse population is Homeostasis depending largely on food availability and that the 'Grouse disease', due to the parasitic worm Trichostrongylus tenuis is a mistaken diagnosis of the after effects of social exclusion.
Distribution and habitat

The Red Grouse is endemic to the British Isles; it has developed in isolation from other subspecies of the Willow Grouse which are widespread in northern parts of Eurasia and North America.

It is found across most parts of Scotland, including Orkney, Shetland and most of the Outer Hebrides. They are only absent from urban areas, such as the central belt, the flatter areas of the north-east and around Fife.

In Wales there are strong populations in places but their range has retracted. They are now largely absent from the far south, their main strongholds being Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons and the Cambrian Mountains. There are reports of Welsh birds crossing the Bristol Channel to Exmoor.

In England it is mainly found in the north - places such as the Lake District, Northumberland, County Durham, much of Yorkshire, the Pennines and the Peak District, as far south as the Staffordshire Moorlands. There is an isolated introduced population on Dartmoor, and overspill Welsh birds visit the Shropshire Hills such as Long Mynd, where they breed. The Exmoor population would now appear to be extinct, with the last birds sighted as recently as 2005. An introduced population in Suffolk died out by the early 20th century, though a population on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire lasted longer.
In Ireland it is found locally in most parts of the country.

Its typical habitat is upland heather moors away from trees. It can also be found in some low-lying bogs and birds may visit farmland during hard weather.
The British population is estimated at about 250,000 pairs with around 1-5,000 pairs in Ireland. Numbers have declined in recent years and birds are now absent in areas where they were once common. Reasons for the decline include loss of heather due to overgrazing, creation of new conifer plantations and a decline in the number of upland gamekeepers. Some predators such as the Hen Harrier feed on grouse and there is ongoing controversy as to what effect these have on grouse numbers.

Red Grouse have been introduced to the Hautes Fagnes region of Belgium but the population there died out in the early 1970s.

Behaviour
Diet
The Red Grouse is herbivorous and feeds mainly on the shoots, seeds and flowers of heather. It will also feed on berries, cereal crops and sometimes insects.

Breeding
The birds begin to form pairs during the autumn and males become increasingly territorial as winter progresses. The nest is a shallow scrape up to 20cm across which is lined with vegetation. About six to nine eggs are laid, mainly during April and May. They are oval, glossy and pale yellow with dark brown blotches. The eggs are incubated for 19 to 25 days, the chicks can fly after 12 to 13 days after hatching and are fully grown after 30 to 35 days.
SelenE, sandpiper2, goldyrs, jaycee, Gert-Paassen, nglen, gracious, jusninasirun, Adanac, Jamesp, haraprasan, gannu, parthasarathi, nikosrio, CeltickRanger has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To joey: Small aperturepekkavalo1 1 05-14 04:51
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • SelenE Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2295 W: 58 N: 4008] (13112)
  • [2008-05-14 4:32]

Hi Pekka,
Despite the poor light conditions lighting and color tones look very good, you controlled the exposure very well. I liked the POV, details and composition. TFS
Best wishes,
Selen

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1499 W: 242 N: 4896] (17203)
  • [2008-05-14 4:38]
  • [+]

Excellent capture, Pekka!!
You've photographed this famous Grouse very well.
The composition is brilliant!
Great use of the poor light and lovely colours.
Shutter-speed was quite low but the shot of tack-sharp!
Though did you need an aperture of f/13? You could have got a higher shutter-speed with a larger apeture, not that you really needed it though.

Very, very good work!

Cheers,

Joe

Hi Pekka

We can't always have perfect light, but there is nothing wrong with this shot. I gives a great warm mood for the often cool and cloudy Yorkshire moors. The shot is well composed and sharpness is quite good and all the birds features are visible. I woud be quite happy with this shot; settle down and sample the famous drink.

Chris

Hi Pekka
Fantastic shot considering light conditions
Lovely rich warm colors you captured here with good sharpness and detail.Well done
tfs jon

Excellent shot, Pekka.The light is great, its what I'd call a very luminous shot..
Very nice colours too!
Cheers!
Goldy

  • Great 
  • pvs Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1133 W: 259 N: 2398] (10775)
  • [2008-05-14 8:26]

Hi Pekka,

A nice capture of this famous one,I like that you captured it against the brown BG colors and still were able to let the grouse stand out very well,great camera work,tfs

Paul

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1630 W: 7 N: 3949] (12666)
  • [2008-05-14 9:53]

Hi Pekka,

A wonderful shot of this Grouse - I would never have guessed it was under bad lighting conditions. A beautiful scene with wonderful colors throughout. The Grouse is in a great pose and you show him off with perfect detail.

Jane

Hi Pekka,

Exellent shot and very good pov and dof.
I nhave never seen these bird exept on a whisky bottle.
Well done.

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1489 W: 18 N: 2961] (10586)
  • [2008-05-14 12:08]

Hi Pekka

This looks like at advert for whiskey (as you no doubt realise from the apt title of the shot). It is a classic image (but little seen these days) with a superb composition. The warm colours are wonderful

TFS

Karan

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1809 W: 2 N: 4649] (17526)
  • [2008-05-14 12:15]

Hi Pekka. Straight off the whisky bottle , The colours and detail in this pictures is first class. The feathers are spot on. a nice POV/DOF. well done TFs.
Nick..

Hello Pekka,
Nicely captured of this Red Grouse with a good pose to view through it!
the image is sharp with good colour and details
many thanks for the sharing also the notes
cheers
Tony

Hello Pekka. I like the warm color and sharpness of this bird in natural surrounding. Well exposed plumage in pleasant Perch. Thanks for sharing and best regards. Jusni

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1043 W: 1 N: 4023] (13228)
  • [2008-05-14 22:18]

Hello Pekka,
WOW what a beautiful composition here with a lovely subject and surroundings. Your camera work looks spot on as the results speak for themselves. Great work Pekka, thanks for sharing.
Rick

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1174 W: 0 N: 4243] (12444)
  • [2008-05-14 23:01]

Hi Pekka

Great shot - wonderful composition with lovely light, detail and colour.

James

  • Great 
  • inked Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 125 W: 0 N: 213] (632)
  • [2008-05-15 0:45]

hi Pekka,
really nice shot of this grouse.. i know the drink you mean. fantastic composition with the mound and bird up front and a nice depth trailing back. nice color and details. well done and tfs
Gethin

Hi neighbor,
A lovely capture of this beautiful Grouse bird. Excellent composition and sharp details. I love the colors here. Thanks a lot for sharing.

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 694 W: 4 N: 1683] (8052)
  • [2008-05-15 6:06]

Hello Pekka,
This is such a wonderful shot and with a great clarity. The color tones and the details are very fine. Ganesh

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1016 W: 56 N: 2015] (6759)
  • [2008-05-15 10:55]

Hello Pekka,
A wonderful photo in special warm colours. Beautiful light, excellent sharpness and composition. Great POV. Very beautiful!
Regards,
Peter

Nice grab.

Hello Pekka,
Very famus endeed,I like the POV, sharpness and composition.I also find the light great.Thw result is maybe better than a sunny day.
Regards,
Nikos.

hello Pekka

AOUTCH ! what a great image you did of the Red Grouse,
Scotland's Moors famous Grouse, WOW ! this is one
of the best shots of TN, very fine POV, DOF and framing,
i love the warm tone colours and luminosity of the image,
great sharpness and details of the grouse and the
foreground of the image, TFS alot this great bird image

Asbed

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