{"id":67815,"date":"2019-01-06T06:24:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T13:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=67815"},"modified":"2019-01-06T07:45:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-06T14:45:15","slug":"male-sage-grouse-strutting-on-the-lek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/06\/male-sage-grouse-strutting-on-the-lek\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Sage Grouse Strutting On The Lek"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t believe I’ve ever been colder while photographing birds than I was with these grouse on their lek.<\/p>\n

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1\/640, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Four years ago I spent several very early and very cold March mornings on the mountain with Sage Grouse displaying on their lek in Wayne County. Almost half the time I spent with them was long before sunrise and even though I was in my pickup I couldn’t start my engine or use my heater and of course several of my windows had to be down for photography. After a couple of hours my entire body felt frozen to the core, despite being dressed warmly and using heat packs in my gloves.<\/p>\n

Did I mention that it was cold?<\/p>\n

This photo was taken a couple of minutes before the sun hit the lek and the birds – the approaching light can be seen at the top of the frame. In this shot the male is tight in the frame because he came in close to me while he was displaying and because I cropped to eliminate part of another displaying male. I rarely shoot using ISO’s at 1600 or above but in this situation I didn’t have much choice.<\/p>\n

Here his throat pouches are temporarily partially deflated but…<\/p>\n

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\"\"1\/800, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

that wasn’t always the case as we can see in this shot taken a couple of minutes later while the bird finally had partial light on him. I was happy that the bird was still sharp at this slow shutter speed while he was heaving those throat pouches up and down.<\/p>\n

In the past I’ve published a more in-depth post explaining both the meaning and the process of Sage Grouse displays and it includes links to some excellent videos from Cornell Labs. If you have the interest here’s the link<\/a>. If you haven’t seen the videos before I highly recommend them.<\/p>\n

And if you ever have the opportunity to visit an active lek\u2026 don’t miss it. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget. Guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n