Ruffed Grouse Running

Run, grouse, run! Fond memories of Forrest Gump are only one call-to-mind with this image of a Ruffed Grouse running in Rosslyn’s wildlife sanctuary. Running? More sprinting. Bolting.

Since Susan, Carley, and I spend a fair bit of time in the desert southwest, this photograph captured on one of Rosslyn’s wildlife cameras immediately reminded me of a roadrunner. It’s not, of course. But it certainly bears an uncanny resemblance. 

It also reminded me of an almost exactly 2 year-old post featuring this handsome ruffed grouse displaying his handsomest haberdashery in Rosslyn’s backlands. No run away then, just runway strutting. 

I shared this grateful thought at the time.

Rosslyn’s backlands are fortunately flush with Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), a welcome reminder that wildlife gravitates — as if by some primal sense — to safe havens and sanctuaries. If you preserve it, they will come… (Source: Ruffed Grouse)

It’s been a profound privilege to welcome such diverse and thriving wildlife back to our small slice of the Adirondack Coast. 

Ruffed Grouse Running Haiku

Hunched, scissor-stepping,
more roadrunner than ruffed grouse,
snapshot of blurred bird.