Conservation of Grouse in the Wild, Wild West Want to know more about North American grouse species? Watch this informative, one-hour program prepared for San Diego Audubon's 2024 Bird Festival all about grouse and learn where Chicks on a Grouse Trip are headed next.  Select the image above and you will be taken to the recording.

Christine and I are off to Texas this year in search of the Attwater's Prairie Chicken (APC).  What does this grouse species look like? We'll we like to start off with an image but unfortunately because this bird is on the Texas Endangered Species List, we don't have picture yet! But we plan to share images and stories of our journey finding APC with grouse lovers and readers of this blog soon.  In the meantime, check out the link HERE to quench your curiosity and get more familiar with the APC. And see an image and article about them HERE .  Enjoy and we will be back in March with more news of our success in the field.                                                                                    Illustration by Casey Girard

Christine and I are at it again! This time with an informative article in The Wild Lens , Vol 5 Issue 4 . Read on for a link to the article. Titled Prairie Dance: Two Species in a Shared Battle for Survival , learn about the "Near Threatened" Greater Sage Grouse and Greater Prairie Chicken and their special connection to the land. Find a link to the article HERE . Or just click on the picture above! Thanks for taking a peek. Enjoy!

We have an article in the Photographic Society of American Journal for July 2023 with lots of images and information on our work to date. PSA is a world-wide organization of photographers of all genres so we are happy that they have chosen us for their cover.  You can read the article at:  https://cdn.ymaws.com/psa-photo.org/resource/resmgr/pdf/journal_/2023/2023-07-psa-journal.pdf  

  Greater Prairie Chicken Photography Workshop Just Announced! OK, we don't want to hog all the fun. Here is your chance to photograph these crazy fast, fun and explosive birds on their mating lek. Join Sandy in April 2024 and learn all about Greater Prairie Chicken behavior and the photo techniques it takes to capture these challenging birds.  Click HERE and find all the details. Hope to see you there! Below is a sampling of what is possible.

Photo credit: David Bates Early morning in mid-April found us on a Colorado mating lek of a pack of Greater Prairie Chickens ( Tympanuchus cupido) . There is something special about the busyness and noises of the lek that keeps us coming back in the springtime. Listen to the booming sounds and clucking of the prairie chickens as you watch this early morning video. You might even hear the pounding of their feet as the males prepare to fill their gular sacs, bow, and boom. Yes, Greater Prairie Chickens (GPC) do fly.  Not only are they prolific jumpers and sparing experts, but they can also fly at speeds of up to 50 mph, as we saw when it was time for them to leave the mating lek.  Like other grouse we have seen, the GPC leave the lek in a pack and seemingly all at once, maybe upon the signal of a lead GPC, though that is not always evident. They will leave the lek temporarily, if they suspect danger lurks such as a circling hawk or a prowling coyote.  Once the perceived danger retreats,