Anna getting video of female behaviors on Cottontail

The unusually warm weather (lows of only 30′s or even 40′s!) and lack of snow seems to be pointing to a really early start of the breeding season. My morning at Cottontail seems to agree with this guess. Anna and I were on the lek (me to round out the roster of “buttprint” tail feather photos, and Anna to get video of female behavior. The lower part of Cottontail had 21 females, and they were not just there to forage. They were clustered pretty tightly together, and were hanging out close to the males. The last female left at almost 10. Nice to see so much activity, but it definitely reminds me that the clock is ticking to have everything in place.