Participant Photo: Ruffed Grouse – yard first

For the first time in the 14 years we’ve owned this home, we had a Ruffed Grouse visit the yard. This is probably due to the addition of bird-friendly plantings in recent years, and the older trees and shrubs we planted when we bought the house have reached a nice mature size. The grouse was foraging on the buds of one of our large Canada Red Cherry trees. The biohedge we added along the side of the house gives cover and food to many bird species, and we’ve seen an increase in numbers of bird species and abundance in the last two years.