After being skunked for the first 12 days of March, it was lucky 13 today. While the crew went to Chugwater, I headed down to Monument in the Rhino, bracing myself for yet another view of an birdless lek. I had been fooled once before when the snow melted to reveal a lek full of vaguely grouse-like lumps that turned out to be last-year’s cowpies. But today, the lumps were moving and occasionally flashing white! Three males by the time I crested the distant overlook, with another two joining shortly. A small flock of males flew and landed somwhere nearby, but were apparently too timid to join in the first dance of the year.

The rest of the day was spent setting out the grid on Chugwater. This involved a lot checking for stake alignment to keep the lines true



then pounding in the stakes.

It’s hard to believe, but we are almost two weeks into March and there are still no birds at Monument! I also struck out when walking towards Guston lek. The two-track is still full of snow. It was kind of fun to walk through, however. There is a thin sculpted layer of ice on top of the snow, and walking through it created faint tinkling crashing sounds with every step. I imagined being an unwitting party to a Liliputian domestic spat, where tiny husbands and wives were throwing even tinier china plates and glass vases at each other.



Although the dawn was a bit frustrating– an eagle overflight foiled our chance to get our first “buttprints” (photos of tail feather patterns)– we had a very productive day. Cable Day.

We had a good half-dozen tubs full of microphone cables (close to 50 cables in all) to sort through, check for continuity and rodent damage, measure how long they are, then re-coil. Some of these cables were over 100 meters long! Someone would hold the microphone end and a 100m tape, while the rest of us would uncoil.




Glad to have this done! And thankful that we had a beautiful day outside to do it.

Yesterdays absolutely HOWLING wind carried on through this morning, although it was abating somewhat by the time the sun rose. Given the weather, I was uncertain whether Dan’s welcome observation of 9 males on Chugwater would be repeated today. Mary and I arrived and saw 2 males on the open part of the lek- better than zero, but far from 9 (or the much larger numbers we had last year). A scan through the sage revealed several other grouse, and these males soon made short flights onto the main arena. Our high count was 17! This included quite a few juvenile males- many of these took off mid-way through our hour there. I would love to know where they came from and where they are headed- are they checking out other leks? What did they think of Chugwater, and will they be back?

Monument is still disappointing us with yet another zero count.

My splurge investment in personal research gear arrived yesterday- a new camera and telephoto lens. I haven’t gotten to use it much yet, but I’m looking forward to yet more sage-grouse photos. In the mean time- an early morning Horned Lark, one of the few songbirds out here in the sage at this time of year.

We haven’t gotten rid of the stubborn snow on the two-tracks out here. Two more inches overnight and it made for some interesting driving yesterday, adding a slick layer to the roads and making it hard to tell safe from dangerous terrain. On my first drive in the Rhino, I headed down towards Monument Lek, and took a quick path that we usually take in the 4-wheelers to avoid a large puddle right before passing through a drainage. We hadn’t been through this segment yet this year, and unfortunately, it was drifted pretty high with snow (probably close to 2 feet). Erin and I quickly ground to a halt, with the sinking feeling that we wouldn’t be able to get out of there on our own. After a few minutes of digging and a failed attempt to reverse course, we walked to a nearby hill to scope out the lek.

Thankfully we had good cell reception, and I was able to call Gail when she was at Chugwater. She came down on an ATV with a couple of shovels and we were able to clear some of the snow behind the Rhino.



Then, using a tow rope, we could drag the Rhino backwards and get it out of the deeper snow.



With the slanted ground we almost lost the front end in a ditch, but luckily the backwards pull was faster than the downward slide.



The three birds at Chugwater appear to have been an early aberration, as we’ve been bird-free on both leks for the past few days. An eagle scared up at least 50 birds near camp on our way into town, so the birds are here, just not yet interested in dancing.

We have data! For the first time this year, we’ve managed to see males displaying on a lek. Dan and I headed for Chugwater Lek this morning, and finally had some luck. We initially saw 2 males, and a third came into view by the time we had parked and trudged up the hill overlooking the lek. Certainly not the number we hope to see in a week or two, but at least reassuring that the birds haven’t all of a sudden decided to forsake their traditional display grounds.
One of the three males was banded- our best guess was a white band on the right leg, which would make it Male 316, a bird that we caught as an adult last year at Chugwater.
Gail, Erin, and Mary paid our first morning visit to Monument Lek. They made it down with an ATV and our 2-seater UTV, and did not see any birds. However, we are still seeing quite a few from the HAC- they are in the area, just not yet in the mood for love.
Some cold and dreary weather moved in while we were at the lek and has stuck around all day. We could get some more snow today and tomorrow.