In a Lek

Surrounded by Grouse

I was freezing cold, alone in the dark, in a jeep with the windows wide open. The date was April 10, 2011. The time was well before dawn. The place, a cattle ranch near Wray, in northeastern Colorado. All around me, the air is filled with deep, repeated, booming hoots. The birds are just feet away from the vehicle. I huddled in the cold, trying to keep both warm and still at the same time. The prairie is waking up around me, and I am surrounded by Greater Prairie-Chickens!

I was in on a grouse tour, aka “chicken chase,” with Field Guides, seeking multiple species of these enigmatic birds. Greater Sage Grouse, Gunnison Sage Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and both Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chickens were all on our wish list! In early April, on both sides of the Rockies, such tours invariably involve long daytime drives, vastly changeable weather, and very, very early starts, so as to be in the field before first light.

Grouse breed in "leks": communal courting ground, used year after year, where males congregate and perform their elaborate courtship displays. For Greater Prairie-Chickens, the males make a booming call via their colored air sacks on the sides of their necks. The females arrive and, if interested, copulate for a few brief seconds before heading off to further the species. However, from what we saw, it seemed mostly an effort in futility on the part of the males – it is a wonder the species survives at all!

The evening before we had met the owner of the ranch for a mandatory pre-tour briefing on lek – and ranch – etiquette. Now, we are on his land, his guests, and the grouse are our only companions.

That morning, in total darkness, our group had arrived in a van. However, there was this other option, much colder but better for photography, this empty jeep parked there in the lek, but daylight was approaching and the decision had to be immediate. Further, there would be no going back, no bathroom breaks, no moving until the day's courtship ritual was done. With little thought and even less hesitation, I went for it. No one else joined me, not even Denise, who sanely elected the warmer van!

There I was, in this open vehicle, freezing cold, all alone with my camera! As the darkness lost its grip on the night, the action began. At first, just ghostly figures, barely visible on the prairie. Still much too dark for pictures, I sat, shivered, and listened. Low booming surrounded me, filling the vehicle, reverberating through. As the predawn light increased, the shapes turned into birds. Soon, I stuck a lens out the window and begin to photograph. The male grouse were all around, pinnae raised, dancing, hooting, cackling, strutting, stomping their feet, and futilely, it seems, trying to attract a mate.

A wind came up, and rain showers came down. A couple of Burrowing Owls appeared, next to the grouse, using the burrows of prairie dogs as their homes. A Western Meadowlark sang. The grouse continued their display; I made out 30, then 40. From the comfort of the van, Denise observed and photographed a brief mating; I missed it, it was either so brief, or I was just too cold to notice. Once, I heard something on the roof of the jeep. Denise later shows me a picture – it was a grouse!

As light increased, the displays continued and became easier to photograph!

For the several hours I sat there, so very cold but absolutely enraptured by the events around me. For those hours, I was part of the lek!