Ruffed grouse, or pa'tridge as my Vermont grandmother used to call them,
have been the subject of some interesting encounters. A farmer in
Westhampton, MA, was befriended by a grouse. It would follow him around the
farm as he did his chores and would go along for the ride when the farmer
would pull equipment behind his tractor. While slow birding, I once had one
member of a pair of grouse actually walk on and over my feet while the
other went behind me. My aunt and uncle had one that would always pay them
a visit when they sat on their screened porch at their camp. Makes life
interesting!
Charlie
So. Washington

On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 7:42 PM Jim Mead <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
>
>
>
>                                    A neighbor who was out x-country skiing
> with her family, sent me a text and photo at 4:47 p.m. wondering what this
> bird was. I told her that it was a Ruffed Grouse. I asked her where she was
> and then went there and saw it along with her husband and 2 children. She
> said that it kept following them and at one point, it was standing on her
> ski. When I first saw the bird it was standing next to her husband. When
> the bird saw me, it came right over, stood and faced me. After a few
> minutes it flew up and “sort of” aggressively attacked my thigh. I’m not
> sure about the behavior it was exhibiting but my guess is that we were in
> its’ territory and it was defending it. After we got back to our vehicles,
> we all saw it fly along the road and back into the tree line. It probably
> flew about 100 yards. This bird did not appear to be ill. It actually
> looked quite healthy. We simply walked away from it and left it alone. What
> an incredible family experience!!! I felt quite fortunate to have been able
> to share it with all of them.
>
> Enjoy Birds,
>
> Jim Mead
>