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Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

I grew up in Ontario and Nunavut, and went to university in New Brunswick. For two years I lived in Ottawa, on the green belt. While I was there I wrote about nature. Then I moved to Montreal and I wrote nothing for a year. We've got nature here too, so I'm going to write about it.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

On Grouse and similar beasties


I was in hedgerow philosopher mode yesterday, so i forgot to mention this encounter. It only lasted a second in any case. I was, as previously mentioned, walking a long trail, which is intermittently wooded. Quite suddenly, a bird broke, practically under my feet. I was, momentarily, transported back to Eastern New Brunswick, where ring-necked Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) outnumber people, buildings, and quite probably trees. I wasn't startled....under the circumstances described, you have the choice of learning to not be startled by the sudden appearance of game birds, or dying. I grew to enjoy the experience over the years, and I admit that I've missed it since moving to Ontario. In Nunavut, one sometimes finds flocks of Ptarmigan shooting up from underfoot, and while Ptarmigan are smaller than Pheasants, the experience is not entirely dissimilar.

This, though, was neither a Pheasant or a Ptarmigan. it was a female Spruce Grouse Falcipennis canadensis, a bird that is not particular to the Ottawa valley, but is rather found all over Canada, and quite probably the United States as well. It's pretty common for them to remain hidden until you get close to them....they are very well camouflaged birds, especially the female of the species. In winter, when there's snow on the ground, they get much more skittish. In the winter they typically eat the needles of conifers (hence the name, I guess), which certainly explains their presence in an area rich in spruce trees. As a point of interest, though I have seen many females over the year, I don't think I have ever seen a male. The species, like alot of birds, is sexually dimorphic, and the male of the species is pretty distinctive. I do wonder why that is occasionally, but I suppose it would be folly to try and explain the minds of birds. Birds usually have their own ideas about how things are going to go, and it's no use arguing with them.

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