Spruce Grouse, Falcipennis canadensis

One of my favorite trails at Algonquin Park is the Spruce Bog Trail. There is a boardwalk over typical northern bog after passing through a stand of Black Spruce. It is a great place for birds such as Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Alder Flycatcher and Black-backed Woodpecker.

I was walking through the stand of Black Spruce when something large wizzed past my head, settled on the ground and gave me a beady eye. It was a male Spruce Grouse who had apparently considered me an intruder. It looked fabulous with the bright red on its head gleaming in the dark forest floor.

The picture below is a female with three chicks which was taken in Quebec.

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I occasionally go back to some older files and apply some new processing or software program to them. These images was taken at Percé Rock at Gaspé, Quebec before dawn. That was five years ago. I was never satisfied with the processed images as I was not able to represent what I remember seeing. However I recently have learned some processing techniques using HDR through the Photomatix Pro program which allowed me to bring out more of the color of the fog bank set against the pastel pink sky. However, this would not have been possible if I hadn’t shot the original in RAW format.

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