Yesterday Bob Tamannen of Soudan encountered a flock of spruce grouse on Hwy 1 about 2 miles east of the Spruce Road - he did not note the precise location. There is an interesting backstory of the spruce grouse roadkill that didn't happen, a refreshing change. As he was driving down the highway, he noted a brown object ahead in the road. It wasn't until he was almost on it before it took the shape of a grouse, but it was too late to stop their motorhome to avert a collision. He looked in the rearview mirror, expecting to see feathers flying, but there sat the lump, seemingly intact. Doubting that it had actually been a grouse, he turned around and went back. Upon returning to the spot, to his surprise, the lump was still there and it was an unharmed spruce grouse. Apparently the bird hadn't flinched, even as a large motorhome passed just overhead. As he and Pat watched, first one, then two more, and eventually a total of nine other spruce grouse flew in from the surrounding woods and joined the lucky bird. When another car came along, Bob flashed his lights and blew his horn to get the car to stop, then shooed the grouse off the road so they would be safe, at least for the time being.
---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
