Friendly fowl

We met this fine feathered friend while snowshoeing at Beaver Lake:

We had been told in the nature center that the resident grouse had been spotted quite frequently; he/she is definitely easy to spot in the snow. While stopped for Aidan to adjust his snowshoe, halfway around the Southern Exposure trail, we saw the bird approaching, and soon heard its quiet chirruping.

Such a handsome bird, who was happy to pose for photos:

He/she is not at all shy - that is the tip of my snowshoe:

Shortly after I snapped that photo, I managed to get my snowshoes entangled with one another and fell backwards onto my tookus. The bird took the opportunity to jump onto my leg and start pecking at my jeans, which led to me shrieking "Get it off me!" It's not that I don't like birds...well, actually, I'm not fond of birds at all, especially ones that peck at me (there was an incident with an angry robin in an apple tree at my grandmother's house that scarred me for life). Apparently this grouse has been fed by humans enough times that it now it actively seeks food from humans.

Once James and Aidan stopped laughing at me, they were able to shoo the bird away and help me stand upright. As we continued down the trail, the bird followed us for a time, even pecking at the back of James' snowshoe, until it finally lost interest. Whew.