Wild Thing! You Make My Heart Sing!

Joe and I got up about 6:00 Saturday morning to head out on a new adventure. We were going to watch some Wyoming chickens strut their stuff.

Nope, these are not sage grouse, buy only curious antelope standing by the side of the road...

No, these aren't sage grouse either. How now brown cows?

Our nice early morning weather turned bad...lots and lots of fog...

I could almost hardly see the road sign for the dirt road we were supposed to turn onto...

The sage grouse is a large, ground-nesting bird that makes its home on the sagebrush-covered plains. Sage grouse are fairly common in much of Wyoming, which has more sagebrush and sage grouse than any other state. A sage grouse is considered sagebrush obligate, which means that it cannot survive outside a sagebrush habitat.

What does a sage grouse look like? Sage grouse have short wings, small heads and stocky
bodies. Males are about 30 inches long and weigh up to 7 pounds. The female is smaller. Both the male and female have mottled brown, gray and black feathers on their tops and sides and black bellies. The male has a black throat and a white chest and a long pointed tail that opens up to a large fan. He also has yellow air sacs that push his neck and chest feathers up when they are inflated. So why did Joe and I get up so early to head down a foggy back road? Each spring, male sage grouse perform an elaborate sunrise display on breeding grounds known as “leks.” Leks are generally open areas near sagebrush stands. The open areas allow the males to easily be seen and heard. The males dance or “strut” around,sometimes flapping their wings, and blow air through the air sacs on their necks. This movement of air causes a “popping” sound that can be heard from a short distance away. Groups of females observe these displays and select the most attractive males to mate with. (Apparently looks do matter in this case). Only a few males do most of the breeding. Males perform on leks for several hours in the early morning and evening during the spring months. That's why we were going there so early in the morning instead of sleeping in. BTW...The females raise the young on their own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0M8pZnNlnI

Unfortunately because of the fog, this is all we were able to see. If you look carefully at the picture below, you can see two sage grouse in the middle of the picture strutting their stuff. And, since we did have our window down, we could hear the popping sounds they were making.This is what the "lek" looked like...

And then the guys fly away...

Some of the scenery we passed...

We'll try again next year and hope for a fogless morning. (Directions in Casper to the Hat Six Lek – Take I-25 east of Casper to the Hat Six Road (Hwy 253). Travel south on Hat Six Road about 7 miles to Country Road 605. Turn left (east) on 605. The lek is about 0.25 mile down the road and is marked by a large sign).