2001--WYOMING STRUTTING SAGE GROUSE!!
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WHAT A SIGHT!! Each spring Sage Grouse, or Prairie Chickens, return to the same areas to perform their mating rituals. These areas are known as a LEK. I'd never had the opportunity before to witness this unique event. My family didn't mind one bit getting up at 4:30 a.m., driving an hour to the lek, and spending the first couple of hours of daylight photographing and observing this great event! I'm just glad they woke up about 15 minutes before the birds stopped strutting. Needless to say, I burned up about 5 rolls of film! This lek happened to be right off a gravel county road, making observations and photographing available at VERY CLOSE range....just like it ought to be.
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These next four pictures show what happens when a fight breaks out! Just like us humans, we are totally disconcerted with one another until one of us says something naughty about our girlfriend. Then, you'll notice these roosters (could be humans) face off for a bunch of "jive talkin", lip service, hoping to verbally bully the other into an apology. Then, the roosters puff up, spread their wings (muscles), and hope they can bluff one another into avoiding a real fight. As you can see in the last picture, none of this works, and the girlfriend's honor can only be restored by coming to blows! Course, in the meantime, the girlfriend has thought this behavior is too childish for her, and she decides to breed with some other rooster while these two duke it out. So typical of a woman.........uh, I mean a Sage Hen!
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If you enjoy these photos, you might also want to check out the turkeys and misc. critters I've photographed. Just click on the links in this text. Or, you can return to my 2001 Personal Hunting page.
for more information:
4 W AIR
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SOLDOTNA, AK 99669
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