Spruce Grouse Hen

Nice discovery and an excellent image. I see the small movement, but it doesn't detract for me.

Nice shot, don't know how you got her to pose for you with your dogs around. I was going to say I would like to have seen a little more space on the bottom, but if you were laying on the ground, I guess I know why it's not there. Good shot , especially considering the light conditions!

Jim,

The only time I got to photpgraph one of these I could not lay on the ground and I dearly wish I could have. Perhaps I will get to Alaska again some day.

Being able to see the lovely patterns & colors of her plumage in this image is a great plus for me.

I can see the bit of motion blur and wonder if you had gone to f9 would you still have had enough DOF to get the whole bird sharp while raising your shutter speed some?

I like this very much as posted and it must have felt great to have seen her!

Quite a complex pattern on this bird, Jim. Judging from the background I can see that it must blend into the background pretty well! The very small amount of motion blur does not bother me in this image. This bird was really cooperative to sit still for 1/30 s! Very nice image. Great detail.

It's a classic pose, they like to slowly walk away then run like heck when they have cover. I like this perspective a lot, kudos for getting dirty on the ground to make the shot. The wing area seems to be the sharpest part, perhaps focusing on the head would have worked. Not sure if you had time, but loosing the teleconverter and considering your crop options later could have bought you some shutter speed and even better IQ. I try to carry a little teleconverter pouch to toss the 1.4 I use into, if not available I take off my ball cap and place it down to hold it. Nice to see this species at any rate.

What a beauty! Great Image, wonderful flumage detail, Jim!

The low perspective shows he bulk of this grouse. Of course I'd like to see the head sharper but this is still a solid image as posted.

I love the colors and I have always loved their feet. Nice headturn. She looks surprised.

I go along with Lia's comment on SS vs f on this one. This is nice. I wish for even the op to shoot one of these. I don't think I will be getting to AK any time soon unfortunately.

I like the details in the back and tail but I do wish the head was sharper. I'd also like to have more room at the bottom as it's quite tight there.

Jim:
You don't mention noise reduction. From this image, it appears that you could go a little higher on the ISO in a situation like this. That would give you a little more shutter speed and my guess is that the added noise would not be very visible in the complex texture of the bird. Software might handle the attendant additional noise in the background. Just a thought based on the fact that I'm not seeing much noise in the larger image.

Very nicely capture. I am going to find me one of these this year.
May