As anthropogenic activities increasingly disturb ecosystems, it is important to determine how wildlife is impacted. This photo was taken during field work for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas-3--a project aimed at understanding the temporal differences in distribution and abundance of Ontario's breeding birds.

After inadvertently flushing the mother, I discovered this little spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) fledgling tucked away. Observing this fledgling confirms spruce grouse breeding for this area and contributes to the growing database of bird breeding records.