BIRDQUEST2004

I’ve been back for two weeks now and the chicken run is still in my mind.  The birds I saw and the birds I missed.  Three thousand miles, 5 states, 8 days, 3 lifers and the Waunita Lek for Gunnison’s Sage-Grouse.

After all the birds I’ve photographed this is the only one I absolutely couldn’t get close to.   Most of the land these birds are on is private and access to crown land is strictly controlled.  The only choice is the Waunita Lek for viewing the grouse.  This lek is located about 18.5 miles east of Gunnison, Colorado on County Road 887.

There is a viewing trailer located at the site that can be accessed for $100 but gives the viewer no advantage at all.  Commercial birding groups are required to use the trailer blind.  Although if I’d come from abroad to see these  birds from this site, I’d probably be disappointed.

I arrived on the 18th at 5:15am, parked my car and spoke to the volunteer who ensures protocal is followed.  I asked where the birds had been coming out to the lek.  He pointed into the darkness and gave me a general direction.  I setup my spotting scope in the rear seat and rolled the window down and waited for the sun to come up.

I soon realized that it was going to be a long wait and at -13C a cold one.  Slowly though I begat to pick out details a tree, rock, bush and fence line in the general direction I was given but by 6am I hadn’t seen anything moving.  then all of a sudden all the people began streaming out of the trailer and cars, laughing and smiling.  I heard on person say “wow, what a show, too bad the eagle flushed them”.   I got out of the car and ralized I had been looking in the wrong direction and the birds were gone and they wouldn’t be back until the next morning.  I’d have to stay another day.

I went back to the hotel and tried to figure out what I was going to do the rest of the day.  On the advice of the locals, I decided to spend the day in the Hartman’s Rocks area, looking for Sage-Grouse.  Driving on an ATV track  is usually not a good idea with a rental Toyota Corolla but I really didn’t want to walk in the 2 miles.  I got to a closed gate, parked the car as best I could and started walking.  I figure, I walked 2-3 miles, looking for any movement.  After flushing 3 birds I realized it wasn’t going to be easy.  I deceded to give it up.  I got back to the hotel just after dark and crashed.  I knew that I’d given it my all that day to see a sage-grouse on my own

The next morning back in the car I was ready and knew where to look.  Like clockwork the birds arrived and the dancing began.  Binoculars are useless, the birds are speckes at 400 meters, a good quality scope is needed  to see details.

Just remember to focus on the “H” post…..

After getting good looks at the sage-grouse, I set up my camera with my 300mm lens and 2x teleconverter, with not much hope of a decent photo.

Ciao for now…..

The last stop on my trip was to Milnesand, NM.  This is the area where I hoped to first see and with luck photograph Lesser Prairie Chickens.

According to the Nature Conservancy, the Lesser Prairie Chicken were once abundant in the high plains country of five states.  There number have plummeted by 97% since 1900.  About half of its current population lives in western Kansas, with the other half in the sand hills and prairies of western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle,  eastern New Mexico, and southeastern Colorado.

The birds are in even more trouble these days due to the ongoing drought and are becoming even scarcer.  It has been 3 years since there has been any significant rain which the young birds need as they feed primarily on bugs produced by the rains.

The Nature Conservancy to date has purchased 28,000 acres of grasslands, which have the proper cover for the LP Chickens.

After a 360 mile drive I finally arrived at the ranch where I was to meet my host Tish Mcdaniels.  I was welcomed by a group of people dedicated to insuring the future of the Lesser Prairie Chicken in New Mexico.  Each was a specialist in their field and each day they went out in search of birds on their leks.  For a birder like myself its wonderful to meet people who have a love for birds.

Leks are areas where male Prairie Chickens display and court females in the hopes of mating with them.  At dawn you can hear the males booming call, a sound which is amplified by the air-sacs on the side of their necks, also they make a variety of cackling calls.  They also hold their tails erect and stiffen their wings at their sides, all the while stamping their feet which can be heard easily if your close enough.  The dominant males are closer to the center and squabbles are common.  They continue even if their are no females close by.

Next morning at 5:30am, I went out with biologist Jake Swafford in the hope of finding birds booming on a local lek.  Well, I tell you I wasn’t hoping for much but was I in for a surprise.  As soon as we were within 300 yards you could hear the birds, getting louder the closer we got. We parked the truck as close as we dared to the lek and waited.  You could hear and see movement of at least 15 birds.  As the sun came up I realized just how close we were to the displaying birds.

The sun lit up the scene and each male displayed on their patch of turf, at times they squared off facing each other and nothing happened and other times they fought for their turf.  A female came into the center of the lek and caused quite a stir.  She hung around for about an hour then strolled off without choosing a male.  After 10 minutes she came back and again walked amongst the males.

We stayed on that lek for 4 hours of non-stop action.

But the action did slow down considerably once the female left for the second time.

I will remember that morning for a long time through my photos and videos.  What a morning.

After we left Jake and I birded for the rest of the day and had quite a good list by the end of  it. This is a good area and there’s a good variety of species.  I had planned to spend 2 days in the area but I lost 2 days due to weather.  I will get back there some day, 24 hours is definitely not enough time.

I wish to thank, Tish McDaniels,  Kathleen for the great pizza, Chris, Jake Swafford for a great day, Dave, Dustin,Willard and Lawry (hope we can meet again in Oregon and find the White-headed Woodpecker.

Please Donate to the Nature Conservancy they do some wonderful work.

Ciao for now…