It has been a whirlwind but we are home! Thankful for the experiences of the last 23 days with my friend and other half of the "Grouse Girls," Christine Pence. Seven states behind us, five unique leks (visited multiple times), 4-5 species of grassland birds (does the hybrid prairie chicken count?), 5,941 miles in our rental 4WD and only one day without constant wind. It was definitely a good start on our quest to learn more and share stories from distant prairies.  At home we've been able to rest and reflect on the journey. And go through thousands of images of course! Editing is essential. Alone I've added 190 GB's or over 15,000 images to my hard drive. Whew! I'll be at it for a while and intend to keep updating this blog with new information and interesting facts in the future. So stay tuned! In the meantime, feel free to contact Christine or me with any questions you may have. We encourage you to leave comments, send us your thoughts and images pertaining ...

  We spent the early morning hours on the sage grouse lek where our journey began one year ago on April 1, 2021.  The sage grouse were barely visible in the Waning Gibbous moonlight, but the booming could be heard clearly.  The above booming sequence gives you a little idea of the physical changes in the sage grouse as it lifts and fans its tail feathers, fills its yellow sacs with air, stretches up tall, drops its chest while deflating the sacs, and finally returns to its resting state.  The booms sound a bit like popping water balloons and gurgles.  As the morning light rises on the lek, the tail feather shadows draw across the back of the male creating interesting patterns, and then the grouse and sun move. This year we were on the lek site toward the end of April which meant the birds stayed around a little longer in better light for photography and it was warmer at 46F.  Finally, the magic moment came, seemingly at the same time as the arrival of ...

  Christine and I made a visit to the National Museum of Wildlife Art while in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and as we walked the halls enjoying the beautiful art we came across this piece by Alexander Pope (1849-1924). The title is Hanging Grouse , c. 1890, oil on canvas. The painting depicts the now-extinct heath hen, the last living grouse known as Booming Ben who lived on Martha's Vineyard. He was last seen on his traditional lekking ground in 1932.  Heath hens ( Tympanuchus cupido cupido ) were a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken and we felt the need to tell his story.  Common during colonial times in coastal regions from southern New Hampshire to northern Virginia, heath hens were hunted by settlers and suggested to be the main course for the Pilgrim's Thanksgiving feast, not wild turkey.  The heath hen was extirpated from the mainland in 1870 due to over hunting, poaching and feral cat predation leaving only a small number (less than 200 birds) on Martha's Vi...

Upon arriving at what seemed like the top of the world in Wyoming, we reached a wide open grass and sagebrush area still covered with snow patches blown about by the wind.  Most of the sage grouse had either flown out earlier or had left the lek for the season.  One pair of males remained as we approached cautiously and then went their separate ways.  The sun rose quickly this morning, covering the area in harsh light.  This seemed to be the signal for the sage grouse to fly off to a distant area.  We then descended the mountain slowly on a dirt road that meandered around snow, mud, and through some pretty deep ruts.  

  Unlike the last three mornings, weather conditions at the lek were pleasant and tolerable. The iPhone image above captures the setting full moon, one of our blinds and the frosty lek ( what is a lek? ) where only 10 minutes later 30+ sharp-tailed grouse males began dancing for females.  Their display was also very different. This morning the birds started and stopped their drumming and dancing in unison over and over again. It was like a symphony played out before our eyes. Or as Christine puts it, the grouse are acting as if a square dance caller is directing their performance on the floor. Circle left and Do Si Do, Ladies In, Men Sashay! Watch this one minute video below to get a glimpse of the action.  A pronghorn came to watch the show this morning and a coyote lit by the moon traveled quite a distance on a far hill. Possibly curious, possibly kept away because of our presence. We try our best to remain quiet and unobtrusive in our blind not to disturb or change th...

The South Dakota prairie continues to be cold and windy.  That did not seem to be a concern for the Sharp-tailed Grouse this morning. We headed out to the lek at 5 am today bundled up again in all we owned since it was 22F with just a slight 11 mph wind gently bending the grasses. By 5:45 am, the birds were dancing all over the lek as the sky lightened slowly before 6:06 am sunrise. We never got the yellow sunlight.  Snow was predicted so the sky was low and grey...tough conditions for photographing. In the first image above, the typical hovering aircraft position is one of several behaviors of this grouse species.  The males hop a little, strut around in this fighter jet position with very quick short running steps, and then confront another male to begin the dance again.  We saw more than 30 birds this morning. It is always hard to count and photograph and keep the trigger finger warm.  We were positioned well today with many observation choices.

  Christine and I thought we would have a solid day of sharp-tailed grouse photography behind us and ready to share images. But with temperatures in the mid teens and wind chill factor at near -3 degrees, we thought better of visiting the blind this morning.  Yes, we "chickened" out. Wind whipped up large particles of dust and flying debris so powerful it was almost impossible to open a car door or a window to photograph from. Smartphones were our friend today. A couple minutes outside the vehicle and you felt your bones begin to freeze, the grit in your teeth and foreign particles in your eyes.  The chances we were going to find any animal out and about, including grouse on a lek, was unlikely. So we made the decision to sleep in and wait until the weather improved. Tomorrows forecast is no different but we have two more days in South Dakota and two more chances at photographing the "sharpies" (sharp-tailed grouse) we came for.  Further disappointing news came from...

Christine and I went to scout our next blind this afternoon. Here is a quick preview of tomorrow morning’s South Dakota sharp tailed grouse lek location. Weather will be 16 degrees with 25 mph winds. Burrrr! Wish us good viewing and watch for a future posting once we thaw out. 

Sunday morning started early with a 3:45 am call to the van for the trip out to a local farm's lek. Chilly, windy, dark....a typical start to a viewing of the prairie chicken mating ritual.  The males strutted their stuff for three hours, hopping, flying, biting tail feathers, showing their best skills.   The females would have none of it on this visit.  One walked around, checking out the males, but ended up staying by herself.  In this last image above, you can see the leg band that researcher, Dr. Jackie Augustine, is likely to have placed on this bird for her studies.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-augustine-8111aa8 At least twice, the harrier hawk made a pass over the lek and each time most of the chickens flew away, only to return when the hawk was out of the lek area.  Why all of them did not fly off could be the subject of another study.

Define a "lek." A place where males gather to put on an impressive show to attract a mate, and females wander by to check out their options. Audubon calls it a place where the "quirkiest mating party on earth" happens. A lek is really an area defined by different kinds of animals including fish, mammals and insects. When it comes to grouse, they may choose to use a simple dip in the earth that amplifies sound or higher elevation where sound echos far across the countryside, sometimes heard three miles away.  It is often hard to identify a lek without someone pointing one out. Often times grouse rely on scent chemicals or specific soils to identify the same lek they return to year after year.  Once the morning show concluded, Christine and I check out the lek for tell tale signs. Feathers and excrement litter the area and signs of new plant life is scattered about.  Much is left to learn about leks and dedicated researchers, biologists and grouse enthusiasts work har...

Here we are setting up a blind, or a hide some call it. Basically it is a pop-up tent secured to the ground with tent poles to keep it from blowing away in the wind. Which eventually happened anyway. It has a number of windows so we could photograph birds from inside but those windows are open portals letting cold winds enter. We dressed very warmly.  The purpose of a blind is to make us less conspicuous to the birds we are photographing and best allow the grouse to maintain their natural behavior. By no means do we wish to disturb or alter the courting and mating process. We are here to witness and document activities and better tell the story of declining grassland birds, birds who call prairies their home and who have lost 53% of their population over the last 50 years due to climate, habitat loss and other factors. To avoid any disturbance, is necessary to set up the blind before birds arrive at the lek. So we arrive at our destination and make sure to be comfortably set up ins...

  It Rising before the sun, we settled into our blind and waited for the sharp-tailed grouse to fly into the lek to do their ritual mating dance. It was cold and windy out on the western plains of Nebraska.  Once the sun rose, we could see the birds fluttering about, chasing each other with the males hopping in the air trying to feign warrior behavior to establish desirability in the eyes of the females.  The sharp-tailed grouse makes a gurgling noise that sounds much like they are saying "awesome" as they posture, getting down low and then spreading their wings to wander about looking much like low lying aircraft taxiing on the runway. The distinctive purple skin neck patches and upturned pointed white central feathers are characteristic of the male courtship period colors. We will return to the lek tomorrow to observe their behavior better.    

    Tonight the wind is howling and I'm laying out my warmest clothes for tomorrow. Glancing outside my second story window this eerie scene reminds me that I am in prairie country. Exactly what I came for.  Christine and I arrived in Nebraska and are anticipating the morning's event. It will be our first experience in a blind and we are reassured that sharp-tailed grouse ( Tympanuchus phasianellus ) ,  a medium-sized prairie bird, will be our main subject. Number one on my shot list.  We are here to witness the mating dance of this chickenlike male with its pointed tail feathers and inflated purple neck patches. Males gather on courtship grounds called leks, where they perform rapid-stepping displays, call, and often fight for breeding rights. Here is a short video to see their dance. Enjoy! We hope you check back for Day 7 when we share our findings.   Thanks for following Chicks On A Grouse Trip! 

  It's a stretch but peacocks are related to grouse! And it just so happened we unexpectedly came across a peacock on our travels east across the Colorado prairie today in route to our destination sage grouse lek in Kansas. According to Britannica, peacocks are in the order of Galliforms which cover 290 species of game birds including common North American birds such as quail, turkey, pheasant and grouse .  Male peacocks feature ornamental eyespots called ocelli which have evolved to impress the ladies. Female birds (peahens) of the species prefer the eye-shaped features on males over other shapes which independently evolved.   Watch this short video of a peacock at Bent's Old Fort Historic Site near La Junta, Colorado along the historic Santa Fe Trail. He is shaking his tail in what is called the "train rattle" and researchers still don't have an conclusive answer why this is done. Sound up to hear the rattle! Note: this peacock was free to roam the ground...

Working our way from New Mexico to Colorado, the vast vistas alternate between rocky mountains and dry plains.  Pinon trees and junipers dot the grasslands as well as walking stick cacti, yucca, and occasionally a herd of pronghorn, always behind a barbed wire fence that keeps them to that side of the road.  There does not appear to be much unclaimed, open land left in this part of the world.  Evidence of human intervention includes housing, gravel and sand pits for highway construction, windmills, barns, broken down vehicles, used tires and other junk.  Cows graze in most of this area and occasionally a couple of horses are intermixed. We frequently saw burros in with the horses, though it was not obvious what role they had in the life of the farm. Today we start our trip eastward, across the grassy plains of Colorado toward our next destination in Kansas and the first of our formal prairie chicken mating experiences.