Post by: alecvg on May 08, 2009, 01:33:59 PM
Post by: bobcat on May 08, 2009, 01:35:51 PM
Post by: alecvg on May 08, 2009, 01:37:57 PM
Post by: bobcat on May 08, 2009, 01:42:30 PM
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/research/papers/sage_grouse/
Post by: jackelope on May 08, 2009, 01:59:46 PM
Quote
The Greater Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido, is a large bird in the grouse family. This North American species was once abundant, but has become extremely rare or extinct over much of its range due to habitat loss. There are current efforts to help this species gain the numbers that it once had. One of the most famous aspects of these creatures is the mating ritual called booming.
i don't know anything about them either....no season on them that i've ever heard of.
post the pics. are yousure it wasn't a sharptail grouse?
Post by: boneaddict on May 08, 2009, 02:09:17 PM
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on May 08, 2009, 02:14:43 PM
Otherwise I'd think that somebody's pet got away, kind of like finding a Silver pheasant in the Wenas.
Kind of like that male Mearns quail I saw one spring west of Waterville!
Post by: boneaddict on May 08, 2009, 02:18:14 PM
Post by: jackelope on May 08, 2009, 02:21:30 PM
Post by: boneaddict on May 08, 2009, 04:37:10 PM
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on May 08, 2009, 04:51:16 PM
Yep.....make you do a doubletake?
Big time. Much more so than the Egyptian goose i saw flying up the Yakima west of E-burg!
Post by: jackelope on May 08, 2009, 04:53:03 PM
Post by: Curly on May 08, 2009, 05:02:53 PM
It's not a prairie chicken, probably a sharptail grouse. I think the WDFW has been trying to get them reestablished in previously occupied habitat.
How do you know for sure that it could not be a sage grouse? Alec did not post pics that I'm aware of.
We've seen quite a few sage grouse near Moses Coulee. I suppose it is possible that there could be sage grouse near Winthrop too. :dunno:
Post by: bobcat on May 08, 2009, 05:16:51 PM
Post by: alecvg on May 08, 2009, 05:29:33 PM
Post by: Curly on May 08, 2009, 06:06:16 PM
Post by: boneaddict on May 08, 2009, 06:52:33 PM
Post by: Da stump on May 08, 2009, 07:40:18 PM
Post by: rasbo on May 08, 2009, 08:06:16 PM
I grew up in Montana and used to call them sage hens if we are talking about the same bird. When i was a kid there used to be quite a few of them. I guess not many made it to the ark. :ACRY:x2 thats what we called them in se Idaho..dry frigging meat
Post by: yelp on May 08, 2009, 09:04:52 PM
Post by: Tom Reichner on May 09, 2009, 10:38:53 AM
How do you know for sure that it could not be a sage grouse? Alec did not post pics that I'm aware of.
No one said it couldn't be a Sage Grouse. Until now . . . if it was near Winthrop, it wasn't a Sage Grouse. The habitat around the Winthrop area is all wrong for Sage Grouse. It's a completely different environment than that around Moses Coulee. There are Sage Grouse in northcentral Washington, but not in the higher, wetter, more wooded areas like Winthrop.
As for it being a Prairie Chicken, well, it really couldn't have been that, either. They don't even exist in Washington. According to the Audubon Society, the very nearest Greater Prairie Chicken population is smack dab in the middle of South Dakota - that's half a continent away. The closest Lesser Prairie Chicken population is down where Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico meet.
I really look forward to seeing the pictures - hope they get posted soon.
PS: Here are a couple photos I took a couple weeks ago of a northcentral WA Sage Grouse. Keep in mind these are very large birds - approximately 3 times bigger than a Sharptail Grouse or a Prairie Chicken (6 to 7 pounds compared to 2 pounds). It'd be really hard to confuse a Greateer Sage Grouse with any other gamebird.
Post by: bobcat on May 09, 2009, 01:58:22 PM
Post by: TeacherMan on May 09, 2009, 02:07:47 PM
Post by: old boat on May 10, 2009, 03:44:20 PM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on May 10, 2009, 03:49:10 PM
Post by: Tom Reichner on May 10, 2009, 04:02:34 PM
I want to shoot a sage grouse soooooooo bad :)Me too. Unfortunately, I'll have to be content to "shoot" them with a camera for now.
Post by: alecvg on May 10, 2009, 09:03:08 PM
Post by: yelp on May 11, 2009, 07:07:32 AM
How do you know for sure that it could not be a sage grouse? Alec did not post pics that I'm aware of.
No one said it couldn't be a Sage Grouse. Until now . . . if it was near Winthrop, it wasn't a Sage Grouse. The habitat around the Winthrop area is all wrong for Sage Grouse. It's a completely different environment than that around Moses Coulee. There are Sage Grouse in northcentral Washington, but not in the higher, wetter, more wooded areas like Winthrop.
As for it being a Prairie Chicken, well, it really couldn't have been that, either. They don't even exist in Washington. According to the Audubon Society, the very nearest Greater Prairie Chicken population is smack dab in the middle of South Dakota - that's half a continent away. The closest Lesser Prairie Chicken population is down where Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico meet.
I really look forward to seeing the pictures - hope they get posted soon.
PS: Here are a couple photos I took a couple weeks ago of a northcentral WA Sage Grouse. Keep in mind these are very large birds - approximately 3 times bigger than a Sharptail Grouse or a Prairie Chicken (6 to 7 pounds compared to 2 pounds). It'd be really hard to confuse a Greateer Sage Grouse with any other gamebird.
Like Tom said process of knowing these birds in their habitat. Now with that said..there have been reports of Sage grouse around the Brewster Area, parts of the Chiliwist Area may have a report or two. Sometimes weird things happen. The shrub-steppe habitat type does go up the valley aways. Also Sage grouse usually migrate during winter months to lower elevations so that is another reason for not thinking it was a sage grouse. Prairie Chickens just don't exist in Washington that I am aware of. I say that what he saw was a Sharp-tailed grouse, Blue grouse, Ruff grouse, Spruce grouse and possibly a Sage Grouse but it would be weird to see one up there..
Wyoming is the best chance of shooting a Sage Grouse, not sure about Montana. We shot a couple back in Wyoming on our antelope hunt. We got one mounted...pretty sweet.
Tom nice pics...
Post by: luvtohnt on May 11, 2009, 07:17:25 AM
I want to shoot a sage grouse soooooooo bad :)
I got to shoot some in Wyoming 3 years ago. I was useing my uncles over/under and did not open it far enough to cock it, so I missed my first flush. I could have had my limit! O well I may have picture some where. Sorry :jacked:
Brandon
Post by: boneaddict on May 11, 2009, 05:02:44 PM
Post by: Tom Reichner on May 11, 2009, 05:38:12 PM
If you really want to photograph one badly - well, I'll take you out after them next spring (they're finished displaying for the year now).
Only catch is, it requires alot of "want to". The birds fly into the lek in the late evening, just after darkness sets in - usually about 8:15pm. They dance and display (and sometimes fight) for about an hour. Then they just sleep. They roost right there on the ground in the lek, each in it's position.
In the morning, they start to dance again at about 4:30am. It gets light enough to get good images by around 5:45 if it's clear. They dance and display until anywhere from 7 to 8. Then they fly away and leave the lek until evening comes once again.
So, you see, if you tried to approach the lek in the morning, you'd scare the grouse away - or at the least disturb them. So what I did to be in position at the right time is to go in the evening before and set up a pup-tent. Look for dancing Sage Grouse tracks in the dirt to see where the most advantageous spot for the tent is. Then set it up and you get all your stuff set up the way you want it in the tent. Then get inside the tent and close it up by 8pm - before the grouse start coming in. Then you sleep there all night, amongst the grouse!
You'll want to have a slit cut in the side of the tent so that you can stick your lens thru. You really want the camera & lens to be on a tripod for this. Handholding the camera for this setup would be a disaster, and probably result in the birds being spooked away.
When it starts to get light, you'll already be in place - right in the middle of a bunch of dancing grouse in their lek! If you positioned the tent correctly, you should have a dancing grouse within very close range. If you're quiet and careful, you can photograph the whole time the grouse are there, without scaring them off. You may see them fight. You may see them copulate. That's the great thing about being in a "blind" - you never know what you'll get to see!
Obviously, it's a rather uncomfortable endeavor - who wants to sleep out all night by themselves in a cramped old army pup-tent? Who wants to pack all the gear in to the lek? But if you're willing to do the work and put up with the discomfort, the images you can capture will be more than worth it.
Here's another pic of a grouse, along with one of the pup-tent setup.
Post by: boneaddict on May 11, 2009, 07:52:50 PM
Post by: RPM on May 11, 2009, 11:24:08 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on May 12, 2009, 12:16:28 AM
Post by: bowhunterforever on May 12, 2009, 12:38:14 AM
Great pictures Tom. That's hardcore shooting.:yeah:
Post by: T-Bone on May 12, 2009, 06:57:55 AM
I think he saw a Heath hen! We used to have them back east when I was younger, looks like a sharptail but they used to like the wetter, forrested meadows. Tasted good, easy to catch, but my friends say they're not as numerous as they once were.
That's a good one, old boat; the Eastern Prairie Chicken or Heath Hen has been EXTINCT since 1928!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_hen
Post by: teal101 on May 15, 2009, 10:18:03 AM
Post by: Hillbilly270 on May 15, 2009, 10:32:23 AM
Post by: Tom Reichner on June 15, 2009, 03:15:39 PM
I will try to post the pics tonight.
I will have pics up tonight or tomarrow.
It's been a while, alecvg. Are you able to post the pics now? We'd love to see 'em, so we can again try to figure out which species you saw.
Post by: WCTaxidermy on June 16, 2009, 08:43:14 AM
John