October 5, 2023

Tracing a hemlock-lined draw down a remote creek in Clinton County, Pa., I followed the zigzagging rattle of my bird dog Cali’s bell. Nearing the bottom of the draw, an expanse of low-lying shrubs — ablaze in autumn’s glory of red, orange, and yellow — came fully into view.  
Seconds later, Cali’s bell fell silent, and the tell-tale sweep of her tale indicated a bird was near. With barely enough time to hurry into position, a ruffed grouse flushed from the cover dappled with bright red berries, dodging my errant shot, and dipping to temporary safety further along the dense creek bottom.  
The beautiful, albeit spiny, cover that harbored this ruffed grouse — much like it does for stocked pheasants back home in my Lebanon and Schuylkill County haunts — is known as Japanese barberry, an invasive ornamental plant.