April 10 & 11, Dubois, Idaho. Every spring, Sage Grouse congregate on traditional strutting called leks and perform the courtship dance to attract female grouses. The mating rituals happen an hour before sunrise and finish an hour or so after sunrise. The male grouses make very weird sounds when they puffed up their 'chests'. They tried to intimidate the other male grouses when they came close to their own territories. Brief fights did happen occasionally. Whenever the female grouses were around, there would certainly extra activities. It was quite an experience observating the rituals.
Wonderful gallery. Nice sharp images. Some funny looking male birds strutting their stuff.
Nelcha
19-Apr-2007 00:02
Now you tell me the hours of the ritual....and they do this ALSO on the Road to Bodie....had I known the time of the party I would have been there!! Was that your collapsible blind? Great images Stephen!! did you need the 500 for these?? In gratitude, Nelcha