Who left all this scat on and around this log? The scat is around an inch long and tan with a whitewash of uric acid (the concentrated form of nitrogenous waste birds deposit).
A drumming male ruffed grouse! In spring (and less often summer and fall) male ruffed grouse use their drumming stage to attract females and defend their 6-10 acre territory from other males. The stage is often a 10-12 inch high log or rock surrounded by dense cover. The drumming, which sounds like an engine starting, is made by fanning their wings. The drumming starts slowly and eventually accelerates to the speed of the wing-fanning sound waves – causing the sound waves to stack up into a penetrating shock wave, or miniature sonic boom!
Listen and watch the drumming in action here.