[mobirdhunter]

After two (much needed!) rain days, Friday dawned with calm winds, no rain, and the promise of hunting. After the early morning fog and clouds broke, we had one of those days that you don't want to end -- damp, clear and with a slight breeze. The grouse, having been hunkered down during the rainy period, moved out into the trails, I believe to avoid the wet vegetation (and eat the clover in the trails as evidenced by an examination of a crop from a bird we took). We moved 24 birds in 4.5 hours and had some decent dog work, especially from Aspen, who, in on our last walk at end of day, pointed nicely 6 of the 12 birds we found. Chances for shots were slim though, but the CHE took two with two shots. Elaine and I covered over 10 miles on this day, and though tired, could not help but remark on the beauty of the day.

Colder weather is forecast for the beginning of next week, but if the forecast is correct, we'll have light winds. We moved our trip back to the end of the month to avoid the early October crowds and the warmer temperatures. Last year we were stung by frigid, snowy conditions, but this year we have experienced some of the best weather days every. In my old age, I like hunts you can savor, at least in part, because of the weather. We've been blessed this year.

Photo Key:

1. We've had some gorgeous sunsets, but this sunrise from yesterday was unique in the way it cast an orange glow over everything. This shot is actually facing west as the clouds began to break. Hard not to love a morning like this.

2. We see lots of Bald Eagles, often eating carrion. We interrupted this one who gave us the evil eye as we went by.

3. We stopped at the Lost Forty and tried to take some photos of the forest. It's impossible to capture the majesty of these trees in a photo, but here's one that might give an idea of how large these trees are.

4. The day was still and sunny, with temperatures near 50. Aspen makes good use of water in the ruts of the trails we walk. Until the last two days' rains, most of the ruts were dry and we carried water for the dogs.

5. One of the grouse we took, this one over a nice point by Alder. Its black ruff was accentuated by a sprinkling of white end-tipped feathers -- unique for us to find here. Most of the birds we take are gray phase in color, and the biologists say that as the populations trend down in the cycle, you're more likely to see a predominance of gray phase birds, while the red phase shows up during the peak of the cycle. I cannot confirm this, but I have noted that when we take a red bird here, it's generally during high populations times. Our Minnesota birds are generally gray and smaller than the larger, red phase birds we used to take in the Appalachians.