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Ruffed Grouse


Ruffed Grouse
Photo Information
Copyright: Mike Hodgson (Fisher) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1540 W: 309 N: 2234] (8915)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-02-06
Categories: Birds
Camera: Fujifilm Finepix S5000
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/640 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2005-02-07 9:25
Viewed: 979
Points: 22
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Bonasa Umbellus, Ruffed Grouse.
This is the most commonly seen bird in the, Tetraonidae, ground-dwelling chickenlike birds, One of four species on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. The others are; The greater prairie chicken, Sharp-tailed grouse and Spruce grouse.
Description:
A brown chicken like bird with a fan-shaped, black-banded tail and black "ruffs" on the sides of the neck.

Voice:
The female gives soft hen like clucks. The male sit on a log and beats the air with his wings, creating a drumming like sound that increases rapidly in tempo.

Habitat:
Deciduous forests, abandoned farmlands and overgrown pastures.

Nesting:
8-11 pinkish-buff eggs plain or spotted with dark brown in a shallow depression lined with leaves and concealed under bushes.

Range:
Breeds from Alaska and Northern Canada south to the Carolinas, South Dakota, California and the Appalacchians to Georgia.

In winter, the grouse grow comb-like rows of bristles on their toes which serve as snowshoes.
Info, Audubon Society to birds.

As I was driving to the arena to take the kids skating, I spotted this grouse from the corner of my "Eagle Eye" and turned the vehicle around and took many from inside the van and I took some from the road side. Because of all the tiny and large branches this was my best POV. I sure scored big on the 6th of Feb. First the Cardinal and then the grouse. Sure made my day.
Hope you like em'

Hand held with the Fuji S5000 compact zoom
Manual
CCD-RAW
1/640 at F6.3
In photoshop elements, cropped and added the frames and latin name, that's it.

Mike
marhowie, carper, elroyie, mogens-j, PDP, liquidsunshine, Callie, Luc has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To mogens-j: Lots of twigsFisher 1 02-07 11:20
To elroyie: NaturalFisher 1 02-07 11:17
To livios: In SituationsFisher 1 02-07 10:40
To marhowie: Not with an SLRFisher 1 02-07 10:37
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Critiques [Translate]

Nice capture Mike! Although the Grouse partially blocked detracts a little, your shot has great details, light & compostion IMO. In the wild shots are always a challenge, don't you agree! Well done!

Mike, I find it very difficult to shoot birds in such conditions. Indeed, so far, I have not gotten a good one.

I like your shot. The bird is cute and fat. It's well "disguised", and you did a great job. Nice brownish shades and POV.

The details on the bird are good, but there are problems in the picture.
1. There are a lot of details in the frame that it is hard to see the bird.
2. The branch is 'cutting' the bird very agressive including a part of its bill.

I think you did a nice job under difficult conditions - not one of your best but worth saving until better comes up. - The colours are very natural and the dof is perfect but there surely are too many tweaks and branches disturbing the view.

  • Great 
  • willie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1023 W: 61 N: 648] (2083)
  • [2005-02-07 11:20]

Beautiful shot of the grouse in its natural habitat.
It is realy well camoflaged and you have captured it well. Good job

Great shot Mike.
This one must be hard to discover, it's well camouflage.
You manage well with the compact.
Good details under this conditions and nice colours.
Well done.

Waiting to see what you can do with a "real camera"

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2951 W: 366 N: 3779] (11763)
  • [2005-02-07 13:21]

Good work Mike, it certainly shows how effective they are at blending into the surroundings. Nice composition and good lighting. Well done.

Nice shot Mike,
I'm not very keen on the branch cutting the grouse in half, but the detail is very good.
Excellent notes
Thanks for posting

  • Great 
  • jossim Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1674 W: 5 N: 2130] (11894)
  • [2005-02-08 4:13]

Hummm! Belle poule. L'éclairage et parfait et une belle composition. Super et bonne journée.

  • Great 
  • Callie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1243 W: 106 N: 2606] (7501)
  • [2005-02-09 14:42]

Hi Mike
This is a nice, in the habitat shot, showing-up how well they are actually commoed, and that only trained "eagle eyes" could spot same on a fleeting glance. My wife excells in doing this!
TFS

This shot shows how well the bird is camouflaged in its natutral environment, so points for that. You are doing prety good with the S5000, which is nice to see.
Dispite all the cluter of branches, the bird detail has come out rather good, well done.
Which focus setting are you using, spot or multipoint??

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2052 W: 315 N: 4301] (14719)
  • [2005-02-09 19:34]

Critique:
Personal assessment of the photo: good
No visual impact.
Aptness of the photo for the site: great
Personal assessment of the note: complete
Comment:
Mike,when I saw the photo for the first time, I had some difficulty finding the head of the bird, so its camouflage is effective.
Thanks

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