Some of Laura's bird pictures

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Laura's Greater Prairie-Chicken Lek page

Prairie Chicken lek near Crookston, MN, May 6, 2005

Wow. There may be a better word to express the incredible experience of being in the midst of 22 displaying prairie chickens, but I was too awestruck to think of one. At 4 am Friday, I arrived at the parking lot to get to an observation blind run by The Nature Conservancy at 4:35. I moseyed along the 1/2 mile stretch between my car and the little blind--the sky was perfectly clear--the Milky Way glowed--and there was no wind at all. Frogs were calling, and a Short-eared Owl called a few times as I walked along, following the blue reflectors that marked the way. These blinds are wonderful--comfortable chairs inside, and an excellent set of windows allowing high and low views. The chickens are obviously comfortable with people inside them--one flew up on the roof twice while I was inside. I could see him through the skylight, but was using my sound equipment at the time so couldn't get to my camera before he flew back down. The people in the other blind arrived over a half hour after we were supposed to be situated inside the blinds, flushing the birds at 5:35. The birds did return, but were flushed again at 7:10 when the people walked out of their blind while birds were still displaying. Fortunately, the birds returned at least one more time, and I stayed in the blind until a little after 8:30, getting better photos as the sun got higher in the sky. Something flew over--I just saw its shadow but think it was a harrier--and the birds all disappeared about 8:20.

There were other birds about, too. Horned Larks, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Savannah Sparrows, and Western Meadowlarks sang nearby. And Tree Swallows flew overhead, dropping down to the grasses to pick up ...bugs? what? I looked carefully and suddenly realized they were picking up prairie chicken feathers to line their nests. As the chickens fought and preened, loose feathers were coming out and catching on the grasses.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to support The Nature Conservancy and to buy a Duck Stamp to support the habitat these birds need. The project protecting these birds is the Glacial Ridge Project, which has many partners:

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
  • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
  • U.S. Geological Survey
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
  • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
  • Minnesota Department of Commerce
  • University of North Dakota
  • North Dakota State University
  • South Dakota State University
  • Concordia College
  • University of Minnesota, Crookston
  • Polk County
  • City of Crookston
  • Red River Basin Board
  • Red River Flood Damage Work Group
  • Ducks Unlimited
  • Minnesota Waterfowl Association
  • Bush Foundation
  • Nature Northwest
  • Audubon Society
  • Several watershed districts, county and township boards, neighboring landowners and citizenry.

When you're in prairie chicken country, please slow down and pay attention . I saw one dead chicken on Highway 32 on May 5. When I was in Nebraska in March, 2004, I saw three dead Greater Prairie-Chickens on roadsides. What a tragic waste.

Video Files:

Dance Video: Prairie Chicken Dancing: FAST connection (6.2mb) Preening Video: Prairie Chicken Preening: FAST connection (4.3 mb)
Prairie Chicken Dancing: Medium connection (3.2 mb) Prairie Chicken Preening: Medium connection (2.2 mb)
Prairie Chicken Dancing: Dial up connection (276 kb) Prairie Chicken Preening: Dial up connection (198 kb)
Files are Windows Media files. Videos taken through Zeiss 85mm Disascope with 30x eyepiece and Canon PowerShot SD500 camera.

(There's another really nice compilation video on The Nature Conservancy's Glacial Ridge webpage.

Sound Files:

Photo Files:
I took bazillions of photos and over an hour of sound recordings. All the photos on this page are "clickable"--click and you'll see a bigger version--in some cases a MUCH bigger version. Most of the upper photos are taken with a Sony DSC-F717 camera (they have a DSC in the file name); the lower ones (with IMG in the file name) are taken with a Zeiss 85mm Disascope with 30x eyepiece and Canon PowerShot SD500 camera except the bottom three, which are shot through the Canon without assistance from the scope.

 

 

 

 

All my writing, images, videos, and sound recordings are copyrighted © 1997 - 2007 by Laura L. Erickson. I love to share my work to promote bird conservation and education, and to help people enjoy and learn about the birds and other creatures who live with us on this little planet. I produce this webpage, my radio program, and my photography and sound recordings entirely at my own expense. I could not bear for my hard work to be used to promote any product, company, or organization that is in any way harmful to birds. Please do not use any of my work in any for-profit projects without written permission from me. You can ask for permission by emailing me at chickadee@lauraerickson.com.