In the Field

Spring Dusky @ Dawn. Findlay Creek, British Columbia, Canada. May 3, 2025.

I love spring! In my neck of the woods one of the most noteworthy biological events of the season is the return of the Dusky Grouse and the onset of their showy breeding displays. in this photo I caught this displaying male Dusky at sunrise - and smack dab in the middle of his low frequency "hoot song", complete with his lateral cervical apteria (AKA bare patches on lower neck) inflated and his supercilliary apteria (AKA eyebrow combs) partially engorged with blood - and halfway between their normal yellow color and their fully engorged red colour. This song and colourful display are sung to attract females to their territory with the goal of breeding with them.

For me spring brings a sudden irrepressible urge to get up before dawn and head out into the woods around our cabin for sunrise "camera walks". I've been doing this for a couple of decades now and I try to find the time to do the walks at least 4 times per week. On these camera walks I can encounter a wide array of wildlife - from these Dusky Grouse through to several species of breeding songbirds (including Mountain Bluebirds and Tree Swallows), White-tailed Deer, Elk, Red Squirrels, and - if I'm really lucky - a predator or two (including the possibility of Gray Wolves, Coyotes, Mountain Lions, and both Grizzly and Black Bears).

The camera kit I carry on these walks has gone through continual evolution over the years, and I have to say my current "camera walk kit" is a a head and shoulders better than ever owing to its MUCH lighter weight and ease of carrying. I normally take one camera (currently a Nikon Z 9) with me on these walks and a total of 3 lenses. The lenses I take vary a bit depending on what I think/guess I am most likely to encounter that day and can include almost any 3-lens combination of the following (listed order reflects the frequency with which each lens accompanies me on this sunrise sorties, with the 600mm f6.3S with me on almost every walk):

• Nikkor Z 600mm f6.3S
• Nikkor Z 400mm f4.5S
• Nikkor Z 135mm f1.8S (the Plena)
• Tamron Z 35-150mm f2-2.8
• Tamron Z 50-400mm f4.5-6.3
• Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2S

This spring my enjoyment of these walks has skyrocketed more than ever before, primarily owing to the acquisition of two bits of gear - the very light and very compact Nikkor Z 600mm f6.3S and the handiest super-telephoto carrying "device" you'll ever find - the Mr. Jan Gear "Lens Carrier System M" (details here - and a picture of it in action with my Z 800mm f6.3S on my chest can be seen here...).

Back to this image: In most years we have 3 or 4 Dusky Grouse males that set up breeding territories on our acreage. The location of these territories seems to be remarkably stable over time, and I suspect that they are occupied by the same males for a number of years (based on the behaviour of the males, which does vary quite significantly between them). The male shown here has the "showiest" of the displays, with larger and more distended neck patches than the other birds. But, he's also the most wary of the males, and the most difficult one to approach closely. If I want is to shoot portraits of him (like in this shot) I pretty much have to use a 600mm or 800mm lens. In contrast, another of the males is super laid back and I can shoot portraits of him using my Z 85mm f1.2s!

Spring - ya gotta love it!

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this striking Dusky:

• Spring Dusky @ Dawn: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 3.8 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

Behind the Camera

Spring Dusky @ Dawn. Findlay Creek, British Columbia, Canada. May 3, 2025.

High Efficiency* Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 720.

Nikon Z 9 paired with Z Nikkor 600mm f6.3S. Hand-held. VR on in Sport mode. 3D-tracking AF area mode with subject detection on "Birds" mode.

1/100s @ f6.3; -0.3 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Spring Dusky @ Dawn. Findlay Creek, British Columbia, Canada. May 3, 2025.

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .nef (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD2S algorithm of DXO PhotoLab Elite 8.6 (using the appropriate lens/camera optical module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Phase One's Capture One Pro (build 16.5.1). In the case of this image I made NO global adjustments.. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 6 separate layers, with the tweaks being associated with "exposure balancing" and contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to brightness, clarity, highlights, shadows, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

Spring Dusky @ Dawn. Findlay Creek, British Columbia, Canada. May 3, 2025.

Species Status in Canada*: This species is not designated as at risk.

Until recently the Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) was considered a single species with at least two sub-species. However, mitochondrial DNA sequence data, combined with older behavioural and distributional data, has resulted in the decision to split the species into two species - Sooty Grouse (coastal), and Dusky Grouse (found in the interior).

Dusky and Sooty Grouse are endemic to mountainous regions of western North America and both have geographic ranges restricted to moderate to high altitude regions. Many populations undergo an altitudinal migration, spending winters in conifer forests at higher elevations and then descending to lower elevations and more open terrain to breed in the spring. During breeding the males perform a dramatic dance and produce repetitive low-frequency vocalizations (hoots) to attract females to their breeding territories.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada