Loading ...Doesn’t that sound good! And the berries were, but the grouse was only to be captured with a camera. We both needed a break so decided to blow out the cobwebs with a nice bicycle ride around the block – the block is about 8 miles but is pretty much square and so I think counts as a ‘block’!
We were just enjoying the ride but not seeing many berries worth stopping for when we came across a Ruffed Grouse in the middle of the road. She put on quite a show for us running into the bushes and then acting injured, calling and moaning. She had a chick she was distracting us from.
While I quietly tried to capture her beauty with my camera, Steve discovered that she had stopped us beside a superb, overflowing bush of wild black raspberries, and he proceeded to fill the bag we had along for just such a purpose with almost 1/2 pound of berries.
She decided we were not really a threat and soon came out of her bush to go retrieve junior, she then hopped up into a tree to ensure she could keep a close eye on us.
The berries were delicious!
This was written a few days ago, and while I would love to do it again, we are having a few days of insanely hot weather. I think it topped out today at 44°C (with humidex), which pretty much means I sit in front of a fan doing nothing more strenuous than drinking water!
what fun!
Comment by Beth — July 8, 2010 @ 8:53 pm
yummy! And she is lovely! Did you see the chick or was it hidden?
Comment by Emily — July 9, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
Steve spotted it, but it then went into deeper cover and we couldn’t find it again. We really didn’t look to hard as we didn’t want to upset them anymore.
Comment by Heidi — July 9, 2010 @ 2:53 pm