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Thread: Drumming Ruffed Grouse

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Default Drumming Ruffed Grouse

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    The drumming performance of male Ruffed Grouse starts off slow and after each of the first few wing beats the wings are held motionless for just a moment (allowing sharp images like this at low ss). Then the tempo picks up and by the end the wings are only a blur to the human eye (a couple of future posts will illustrate this). And yes, those are droppings below the grouse - during the peak of the drumming season the males spend a lot of time on their logs and consequently a lot of droppings accumulate - this how you can tell if a particular log is being used by a grouse. This photo was taken from a blind. 7D, 500 mm f/4, 1/40, f/4.5, ISO 400, tripod, cable release. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

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    Steve, thx for the informative description. I really like this shot...excellent IQ and sharpness for low SS, terrific low shooting angle. Loved the mossy habitat. If you have, a tad more space on top will make it more balanced IMO. I'd also try a small round of sharpening on the bird's head.

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Cool! I was aiting to see if you had some of the drumming behaviour...glad you did! In a perfect world the little stick wouldn't be there, but hey, I wouldn't complain one bit if this was in my files!!

    Was this early in the morning, or late in the evening? Did you stake out the place and setup a blind before-hand (same day? Day before?) Just curious how you went about finding/photographing this way cool behaviour...

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux View Post
    Cool! I was aiting to see if you had some of the drumming behaviour...glad you did! In a perfect world the little stick wouldn't be there, but hey, I wouldn't complain one bit if this was in my files!!

    Was this early in the morning, or late in the evening? Did you stake out the place and setup a blind before-hand (same day? Day before?) Just curious how you went about finding/photographing this way cool behaviour...
    Hi Daniel: This photo was taken early on a clear morning at just about sunrise. After initially finding this log, I set up a blind about 75 feet away for a day and then moved it into final position the next day (about 40 feet away). Usually there will be too many trees and shrubs in the way (these birds prefer young forests with a high stem density) to allow this and you will need to place the blind within 15-20 feet. I get to the blind about 1 hour before sunrise. The grouse is invariably already on the log and will leave when you arrive. Once in the blind you will need to be completely quiet as this species is very skittish (in contrast to prairie chickens and sharptailed grouse, for example). If all goes well, the grouse should return in about 20 minutes and resume drumming. This particular grouse was more challenging than most because it had several nearby alternate logs that it seemed content to spend much of the morning drumming on while I was in the blind. If this happens, you need to locate these alternate logs - look for the droppings - and put sticks on them where the grouse was drumming to "encourage" the bird to drum in front of your blind. (Remember to remove those sticks when you are finished photographing )
    Hope this helps.

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Excellent inforamtion, Steve. Thanks for taking the time to answer in detail...

  6. #6
    Tommy Rodgers
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    Thank you, thank you. The image is great, but for me, the information is priceless. I get a lesson in image quality and a lesson on wildlife photography in one post. I do appreciate it. Thanks for sharing.

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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Steve:

    Love the color palette in this one, wing position and the great information.

    Techs are nice, and the framing works for my tastes.

    The lighting has given a real sense of texture to the moss and bird.

    Cheers

    Randy
    MY BPN ALBUMS

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Steve, thanks for sharing all the info. I do like the slight forward wing position, together with the colourful moss. You have also placed the grouse nicely in the frame.

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Great capture Steve. Love the perch and pose.

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    All worked out well here. A true beauty. Thanks for the valuable info.

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