Red grouse

I have a spot not far from were I live were there is a few of these birds knocking around ,no were near as many as previous years as I was surprised not to see as many as I normally do ,I should visit more as they are only a few miles away ,however a nice change from the little owl , an early start slightly spoilt by the fog that decided to lift about an hour after sunrise ,plus not be able to position my hide on level ground anywhere near the birds so I had to use my coat as a hide ,once positioned I could hear the birds but not easy to spot which direction they were and I had to stay low ,however this is my favourite shot of the day ,mainly because I had to rely on listening to were he was before I lifted the camera for the shot and it took me hours just hoping I would get the chance ,taken handheld with a 300mm F4 at F4 iso 800 1/1000 sec (1dmkiv) +1/3 ev Attachment 155612

Love it, what a unique image. Thank you for sharing, Dennis.

Hi
it is for me a working shoot and a nice colour on colour!

Sounds like you had a great morning, and you did the best to adapt to the working conditions you had. I like what you went for with image, a bit on the whimsical side. Good details on the face, nice colours. I just wish the FG did not go so high up the grouse's neck, but I realize that spooking this fella away by going higher was a consideration to take account for.

Beautiful image, and has an air of mystery with the OOF grasses about it.
Well done and TFS