"Grouse photography ROCKS!"  Introducing a new species which Chicks on a Grouse Trip recently had the pleasure to photograph.  "Meet the Sooty Grouse!"                      ©SandyZelasko, InvestInNature.org What a find! Unlike the last post, Christine and I were ecstatic about the opportunity to see and photograph this new-to-us species. Once grouped under the name of Blue grouse, the species was divided into two; the Sooty and Dusky grouse.  Continuing the story from our last post, a trip to the Eastern Sierra with Los Angeles Audubon had its ups and downs. Not being able to get within photo range of the Bi-State greater sage grouse was disappointing but finding the Sooty Grouse was the highlight! And I mean HIGH light! Approximately 110' in a Jeffery Pine tree, its unique 'booming' sound was heard before being seen. It took our group of eight at least 30 minutes to recognize its subtle movement and identify wh...

If you have been reading our blog you'll remember I ended the last post mentioning that Christine and I were headed to Northern California to learn about and photograph the Bi-State greater sage grouse, an isolated and distinct population of the greater sage grouse located along the California Nevada border. Well, we are back to report on our adventures. Unfortunately, our morning with the birds was not what we had hoped.  As a controversial and vulnerable species, the Bi-State population never made it to the Endangered Species List so getting close to a lek was not possible; at least not this trip. Locations are kept quiet for the safety and minimal disturbance of the birds. However, we were given permission in advance to view one particular lek, located on private property belonging to Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It was nearly impossible to see them from approximately 200 yards away without a spotting scope and n...

"Choke Hold"                                        ©SandyZelasko, InvestInNature.org  Four leks, multiple species and early mornings in my future. Not looking forward to getting out of a warm bed at 3 AM but that is what it takes to beat the birds to the lek. The image above was taken early morning when the action was picking up. Two male greater prairie chickens in battle over a female who is out of frame. Notice the top bird has a strangle hold around the neck of the lower bird, who is almost off the ground. Action, behavior and story wrapped up in one image. Shot with a Canon R3, RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM Lens at f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 1250. No birds were harmed during the encounter. I'll be at the same lek this April leading two photo workshops where we will gather to discuss tips and rules about shooting at a lek (if you don't know what a lek is check out this link:  https://chick...

  Our newest article! It's Christine and Sandy here inviting you to read our latest publication in the  2025 North American Grouse Partnership Annual Magazine. This year we write about  the greater prairie chicken in Yuma County, Colorado and how populations are doing today. Included are factors that limit growth and ranchers who are conservation heroes for the birds,  prairies and other wildlife that depend on grasslands to exist. Read the article by clicking on the image above.    If this is the first time reading our blog, welcome! We are losing two million acres of prairies each year to a number of factors. If we don't protect them now it will be too late. Learn more about the work attributed to the North American Grouse Partnership group and their partners HERE . If you love prairies, specifically the wildlife who call prairies home, consider becoming a member or making a donation.  Christine and I are heading out to study Bi-State grouse along th...

Not much grouse activity to share this September. The birds are spread across the prairie living their best lives and not congregated on a lek as they are in the spring. Christine and I are beginning to plan for the 2026 leking season thinking we will concentrate a little closer to home on Bi-State Sage Grouse which are found in the northeast area of California along the border with Nevada. If weather permits, we will locate and photograph them.  We just finished a new article for the North American Grouse Partnership Annual Magazine with images that we will share with you as soon as it is published. Or better yet, become a member and receive the printed publication mailed directly to your home. A new greater prairie chicken workshop is on the way for 2026! Dates and details will be posted at InvestInNature.org soon. We had multiple opportunities to photograph greater prairie chickens, burrowing owl activity and a few random prairie dogs on the lek this year. It was epic with m...

                                                         Attwater's Prairie Chicken nest photographed at recovery center Sandy here. It is mid-May and most grouse activity at leks are winding down. I dream that all those ladies who are sitting on eggs are safe and a plentiful crop of new grouse are on their way to building the population.  This Spring season found me in Eastern Colorado where we had an epic year photographing the greater prairie chicken on a private ranch. Lots of activity including rare sightings at the lek which added to the experience and amused the guests.  Burrowing owls and black tailed prairie dogs delighted us with their antics. Everyone was able to tell battling grouse stories in addition to owl mating and more. Below is...

  Good news for the Greater Sage Grouse. More than one million acres of essential sage grouse habitat is safe from oil and gas leasing for now. Read more about the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision HERE . Learn more about sage grouse habitat and the many other species that occupy these open spaces. Follow and share our blog, Chicks on a Grouse Trip to help spread the word. Join a birding/photography workshop and experience the wildness of grouse for yourself! Join the North American Grouse Partnership and be a key voice for grouse conservation.  Thanks for your support!

The North American Grouse Partnership published our article on the Attwater's Prairie Chicken in its Fall 2024 Annual Report.  

  I just came across this video from Working Lands for Wildlife and thought I'd share. I've been following their work for sometime now and am impressed with the organization. Since Christine and I advocate for all US grouse species, the work by this group seems to have found a way to get things done. Enjoy! Click HERE for the video.

 It has been a whirlwind two weeks on the road in south Texas this spring for Christine and I. We did our best to learn about the federal and state endangered Attwater's prairie chicken.  (Gamma grass and Texas bluebells, prairie habitat for the Attwater's prairie chicken) If you are joining us for the first time or returning to learn more, welcome! Thanks for visiting. This is our fourth year documenting different grouse species, during the breeding season, across the United States. Our goal is to learn all we can about this key species that lives on the vanishing prairie and to bring awareness to our audience. We invite you to check out previous posts to follow our adventures and learn about grouse with us. This year we targeted a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken (GPC) known as the Attwater's prairie chicken (APC) which is found only on the coastal prairie biome of south Texas.  Disclaimer : Our intent is to always bring you stories of "wild & free"...

  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.                                                            ...

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 dan...

It's BREEDING SEASON on the prairie again! Christine and I, creators of Chicks on a Grouse Trip , are back at it and have plans to be there for the action. Thanks for joining us for another year of grouse blogging!  This year you'll find us on the plains in the state of Colorado searching for Greater Prairie Chickens ( Tympanuchus cupido ). Similar but different from the Lesser Prairie Chickens ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ) we photographed in Kansas in 2022.  Note : the image above is a Lesser PC taken in Kansas as we later realized we did not photograph Greater PC's in 2022. Watch for future posts with images of Greater PC's from the field and follow our latest adventures. It is so much easier to identify birds during breeding season, especially male birds, as most birders and bird photographers know. So descriptions in this article address male features and behaviors. The two prairie chicken species are hardly discernible without their air sac exposed. Greater PC...

                                                            (First kiss of sunlight before I changed camera settings, ISO 12,800, f4, 1/640, male STG strutting, not cropped) Originally I was going to share my thoughts on photographing multiple species of grouse while on their lek but once I started compiling notes (and images) I thought better of it and decided to write about one species at a time and in this post it will be the sharp-tailed grouse, aka "sharpies" or known by the acronym STG.  After photographing STG on a couple leks during our 2022 adventure, I can say they are not the highest jumpers. What does that mean? Compared to the greater and lesser prairie chickens, the chickens win. Their fights reached further off the ground and seem to explode in the air high enough to clear most gr...