Sooty Grouse Chick - Cypress Mountain, BC
,On a recent tour I gave of our local mountains, we came upon a Sooty grouse and her three chicks just in from Bowen Lookout. She was watching from a lookout in a Hemlock tree and when she felt the coast was clear, she softly 'chucked' and on queue, the three young grouse walked out onto the path, where she led them down the hill. These hardy little birds are able to fly short distances up into the shorter trees to escape detection or get at food if need be, like the blueberry bushes behind him.