It may be late August, but the Ruffed Grouse on Stony River Forest Road were strutting their stuff in northern Minnesota as they courted their lady loves! Such was the case two mornings ago when I drove up to the Greenwood Forest Fire Burn Area. While the rest of Minnesota was sweltering in 100F heat, I experienced 58F and heavy fog. While normally I would not recommend these conditions for birding, I had a delightful “birdy” time on Stony River Forest Road. In total I saw 12 grouse … 9 Ruffed and 3 Spruce. In addition the new juvenile Broad-Winged Hawks were out in force hunting near the boreal bogs. It was a great morning. As a fyi, the road bed of Stony River Forest Road is in excellent shape and even a two wheel drive vehicle would have zero problems on  this “minimum maintenance” dirt road deep in the wilderness. See my Minnesota Birding web pages for more information about this road. During my two hours on Stony River Forest Road I saw zero other vehicles or people, which will likely hold true till grouse hunting season.

Strutting Ruffed Grouse of Stony River … Courting! (2 unique birds)

Broad-Winged Hawks (3 unique birds)

And a short video of courting grouse … the guy! (video link for email subscribers)