Florida East Coast train No. 101 led by new GE ES44C4s Nos. 818, 800 and 809 flies across Spruce Creek just south of Spruce Creek siding south of Port Orange, Florida, on January 13, 2015.

When shrieked

The bleak November winds, and smote the woods,

And the brown fields were herbless, and the shades

That met above the merry rivulet

Were spoiled, I sought, I loved them still; they seemed

Like old companions in adversity.

-- William Cullen Bryant

The range of the Spruce Grouse, also known as the Canada Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis), is mainly in Canada and Alaska with small spillover into a few other northern states. I chose this picture to show their version of grouse "snowshoe" adaptations to their feet in winter to better cope with snow.

Two autumn posts today

Tetras du Canada

Laurentides Quebec

I don't know if chickadees eat spruce buds but there are enough here on the tree for a good meal.

Nikon D7000 Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm 1.8G

It is in its upper reaches that a spruce explains itself. This is all I wanted of this fine one on a dark day with a foggy hillside for backdrop.

2141

Tetras du Canada

A chestnut coloured female Spruce Grouse keeping very still as I walked into a small clearing along a trail in Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario.

(Falcipennis canadensis)

North of Topsfield, Washington County, Maine

This is one of the prettiest Grouse of the grouse family residing in Alberta, usually likes wooded areas and are hard to spot.

Nikon D7000 + Nikkor 105mm 2.5 AI-S

A female Spruce Grouse (Dendragapus canadensis) picking up grit along the gravel roads in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.

8 September, 2011.

Slide # GWB_20110908_9086.CR2

Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.

© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.

Male grouse

Taken in Cochrane Northern Ont Only male I seen in my travels this trip

A bird of coniferous forests, the Spruce Grouse inhabits much of Canada and portions of the northern United States. Inconspicuous and relatively quiet. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spruce_Grouse/id

Thanks for your comments and faves,they are truly appreciated

Aerial shot of beautiful foliage covering parts of Spruce Peak in Stowe Vermont.

Yesterday all the trees, seeds, and buds were encased in ice. Today this beauty is melting. This spruce branch with its buds looks like a flower.

Thanks For Visiting 🌷

Fichte - picea abies

Sony A7RIII with FE 90mm F2.8 Macro

This was a mother grouse looking over her babies.

A male Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) searches the gravel for some grit for its gizzard on a trail in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.

13 November, 2013.

Slide # GWB_20131113_1247.CR2

Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.

© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.

This Spruce Grouse was found on the trail to Brooks Falls. Typical of this species it was pretty tolerant of our presence and casually walked ahead of us on the trail for quite a while instead of taking cover in the dense foliage on either side.

Full frame image got him in some nice morning light in Cochrane Ontario [northern Ontario] last spring going up in 2 weeks hoping to find a few more of these guys

Went for a walk on a crisp, cold January day.