{"id":21079,"date":"2015-03-28T04:30:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-28T10:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=21079"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:00:31","slug":"travelogue-day-3-greater-sage-grouse-and-white-tailed-prairie-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/28\/travelogue-day-3-greater-sage-grouse-and-white-tailed-prairie-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Sage-Grouse and White-tailed Prairie Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreaterGreater Sage-Grouse on a high sagebrush steppe<\/span><\/p>\n

Well yesterday morning was exciting because of finding several Greater Sage-Grouse<\/span><\/a> flocks on a high sagebrush steppe. A couple of times they flushed before I saw them and the sound they made when taking off almost scared my jeans off of me.<\/p>\n

They are such big birds but they blend right into their habitat quite easily. I hope to see and photograph more of them before heading home.<\/p>\n

Editing on my laptop is a royal pain because I can’t detect softness or sharpness on it like I can on my desktop. If these images look awful please let me know!<\/p>\n

\"CallingCalling White-tailed Prairie Dogs<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled beyond thrilled to take images of several White-tailed Prairie Dogs<\/span><\/a> up on the high sagebrush steppe not far from the Greater Sage-Grouse because the prairie dogs are lifers for me.<\/p>\n

Even though I have seen these cuties before I had never photographed them.\u00a0 I only count birds and animals as lifers when I take photos of them, no matter how bad they are.<\/p>\n

Watching and photographing the prairie dogs was a great time for me. I took several hundred images of these guys.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what today will bring but I say… bring it on!<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Greater Sage-Grouse photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my White-tailed Prairie Dog photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greater Sage-Grouse and White-tailed Prairie Dogs <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2319,26,2486,3473],"tags":[4004,2320,3474,4556,3492,11567,4062,9005,4947,4789,2660,4147,3475],"class_list":["post-21079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-greater-sage-grouse","category-utah","category-wayne-county","category-white-tailed-prairie-dogs","tag-adult","tag-centrocercus-urophasianus","tag-cynomys-leucurus","tag-greater-sage-grouse","tag-grouse","tag-high","tag-male","tag-prairie-dog","tag-prairie-dogs","tag-sage-grouse","tag-sagebrush-steppe","tag-upland-game-bird","tag-white-tailed-prairie-dog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-griuse-mia-mcpherson-4921.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5tZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36605,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/02\/greater-sage-grouse-white-tailed-prairie-dogs-and-the-sagebrush-steppe\/","url_meta":{"origin":21079,"position":0},"title":"Greater Sage-Grouse, White-tailed Prairie Dogs and the Sagebrush Steppe","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A short trip to look for Greater Sage-Grouse, White-tailed Prairie Dogs and the other birds and animals that call the sagebrush steppe their home.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dawn arrives on the Greater Sage-Grouse lek, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-0097.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-0097.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-0097.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-0097.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44908,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/11\/dreaming-of-greater-sage-grouse-sandhill-cranes-and-white-tailed-prairie-dogs\/","url_meta":{"origin":21079,"position":1},"title":"Dreaming of Greater Sage-Grouse, Sandhill Cranes and White-tailed Prairie Dogs","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm dreaming of seeing Greater Sage-Grouse, Sandhill Cranes and White-tailed Prairie Dogs as spring warms up the sagebrush steppe.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Morning light on a Greater Sage-Grouse, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-9528.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-9528.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-9528.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-9528.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70464,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/02\/two-greater-sage-grouse-foraging-on-the-aquarius-plateau\/","url_meta":{"origin":21079,"position":2},"title":"Two Greater Sage-Grouse Foraging On The Aquarius Plateau","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I found these two foraging Greater Sage-Grouse high up on the Aquarius Plateau in Wayne County, Utah five years ago today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Greater Sage-Grouse foraging, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-aquarius-plateau-mia-mcpherson-8534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-aquarius-plateau-mia-mcpherson-8534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-aquarius-plateau-mia-mcpherson-8534.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-aquarius-plateau-mia-mcpherson-8534.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111244,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/16\/mating-greater-sage-grouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":21079,"position":3},"title":"Mating Greater Sage-Grouse On A Wild Windswept Lek","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"During the breeding season, male Greater Sage-Grouse gather in communal display areas known as leks to perform an elaborate courtship ritual.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mating Greater Sage-Grouse on a lek, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-6620.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-6620.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-6620.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-6620.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51282,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/18\/before-dawn-breaks-the-courtship-displays-begin-on-greater-sage-grouse-leks\/","url_meta":{"origin":21079,"position":4},"title":"Before Dawn Breaks The Courtship Displays Begin On Greater Sage-Grouse Leks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Each year across the western states Greater Sage-Grouse begin to fly into leks on the sagebrush steppe during late winter and early spring to perform their fascinating courtship displays well before the first sign of dawn.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Greater Sage-Grouse on a high sagebrush steppe, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-male-mia-mcpherson-1408.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-male-mia-mcpherson-1408.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-male-mia-mcpherson-1408.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-male-mia-mcpherson-1408.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32939,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/19\/greater-sage-grouse-wayne-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":21079,"position":5},"title":"Greater Sage-Grouse in Wayne County, Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since the snow has started to fall in the high country of Utah I have started thinking about Greater Sage-Grouse again.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sparring male Greater Sage-Grouse at a lek in Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-1057.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-1057.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-1057.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-males-mia-mcpherson-1057.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}