This morning I went out to a Sharptail Grouse lek I hadn't visited before, in an area that I had surprisingly never previously ventured into which resulted in me driving down a dirt road in the early morning dark trying to find a spot on the map. Thankfully there were a couple of grouse in the road or I might have missed the lek on the first pass.
I really like watching Sharptails dance. They are much more active than Sage-Grouse, with lots of chuckles, cackles and growling to go along with the foot stomping.
It was a gorgeous morning with no wind. The birds were very active with a number of females flying into the lek resulting in mass dancing and chasing by the displaying males.
On my way home I also stopped by a small Greater Sage-Grouse lek and watched four males displaying to about as many females.
The area that I wound up driving through was wonderful and I plan on going back and checking it out a bit more. I also hope to get back to this lek for a few more photos this spring.
4 comments:
Sharp-tails are so amazing--I get to hang out among them in the NEbraska Sandhills next weekend, and your images have made my anticipation that much more eager!~
rick
I am looking forward to your report when you get a chance! Cranes and grouse? I hope to have a bunch more photos next weekend too. Hope you have a great trip and hopefully spring will decide to show up by then.
Great pics of wonderful lekkers. One of these days I want to see them do their thing myself.
These are very nice shots. I don't see much of those big birds around our area. Just second time in my life I saw wild turkey today, but I couldn't take photo as they disappear in the forest really fast. Thanks for sharing. Very nice blog you have here. Anna :)
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