{"id":21090,"date":"2015-03-29T04:20:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T10:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=21090"},"modified":"2025-11-24T19:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T01:19:56","slug":"travelogue-day-4-more-greater-sage-grouse-and-one-stunning-mountain-bluebird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/29\/travelogue-day-4-more-greater-sage-grouse-and-one-stunning-mountain-bluebird\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Sage-Grouse and One Stunning Mountain Bluebird"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Greater Sage-Grouse in evening light on March 28, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I said I didn’t know what the day would bring but to bring<\/em> it on.<\/p>\n

Bring it on it DID!<\/p>\n

I was stunned and amazed to find not just one Greater Sage-Grouse leks but TWO!<\/p>\n

I was super excited at the first lek because the males were still displaying for the females about 20 minutes after the sun rose and we were able to drive hidden behind a huge berm of dirt surrounding a human made watering hole so we didn’t disturb the grouse.<\/p>\n

We stayed and photographed the action on the lek until all the grouse had left.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Greater Sage-Grouse displaying on the lek<\/span><\/p>\n

I was so excited to watch and photograph these amazing upland game birds and even though my images show the birds small in the frame we didn’t dare move any closer because we absolutely did not want to flush the grouse off of the lek.<\/p>\n

Greater Sage-Grouse are in trouble in many locations due to habitat destruction and I certainly do not want to cause any disturbances at a lek.<\/p>\n

There is never<\/em> a time when an image is more important than the safety and well being of my subject. Ever.<\/p>\n

Listening to the sounds they made, watching the males display, and capturing it with my camera was a dream come true! Yes, I had tears of joy fill my eyes but they didn’t stop me from focusing on the birds.<\/p>\n

I will be writing more about them on the lek soon but posting from the road has been problematic and exasperating times 2.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Mountain Bluebird and a flag on the fence to prevent Greater Sage-Grouse collisions<\/span><\/p>\n

The second lek was further up the road and even though most of the birds has already left there were a few males displaying at the edge of a mountain lake.<\/p>\n

One of the Greater Sage-Grouse was within 3 feet of the water! On the other side of the lake I could see a few females hanging around but they soon flew off.<\/p>\n

I photographed this Mountain Bluebird near the second lek and I was bothered at first by the white flag near its feet on the fence but those little white flags help the grouse because they see them and don’t run into the fences. Collisions with barb wire fences causes a lot of sage grouse mortality.<\/p>\n

I am still in daze about finding these leks.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> amazing!<\/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 Mountain Bluebird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was stunned and amazed to find not just one Greater Sage-Grouse leks but TWO!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164745,"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":[27,2319,1369,26,2486],"tags":[4004,5933,4880,2320,3830,11230,4556,3492,3476,11229,4348,228,4104,4789,4339,401],"class_list":["post-21090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-greater-sage-grouse","category-mountain-bluebirds","category-utah","category-wayne-county","tag-adult","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-centrocercus-urophasianus","tag-fence","tag-flag","tag-greater-sage-grouse","tag-grouse","tag-lek","tag-leks","tag-mating-display","tag-mountain-bluebird","tag-perched","tag-sage-grouse","tag-sialia-currucoides","tag-upland-game-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5ua","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":21090,"position":0},"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":82342,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/26\/finding-greater-sage-grouse-away-from-their-leks\/","url_meta":{"origin":21090,"position":1},"title":"Finding Greater Sage-Grouse Away From Their Leks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Finding Greater Sage-Grouse away from their leks isn't easy. It takes sharp eyes, keen observation skills, plus knowing what to look for.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Greater Sage-Grouse portrait, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-wayne-county-mia-mcpherson-5825.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-wayne-county-mia-mcpherson-5825.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-wayne-county-mia-mcpherson-5825.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greater-sage-grouse-wayne-county-mia-mcpherson-5825.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66404,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/08\/greater-sage-grouse-leks-in-march\/","url_meta":{"origin":21090,"position":2},"title":"Greater-Sage Grouse Leks In March","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"March is a time when my mind wanders to windswept, high country sagebrush steppes where Greater-Sage Grouse will dance, fight and court on their leks as they have done for eons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Displaying Greater-Sage Grouse males, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-males-fighting-mia-mcpherson-8357.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-fighting-mia-mcpherson-8357.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-males-fighting-mia-mcpherson-8357.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-fighting-mia-mcpherson-8357.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"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":21090,"position":3},"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":51031,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/21\/greater-sage-grouse-on-a-lek-our-public-lands-our-legacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":21090,"position":4},"title":"Greater Sage-Grouse on a Lek – Our Public Lands – Our Legacy","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One might ask what do Greater Sage-Grouse have to do with our public lands and the answer would be that more than half of all remaining habit for these large upland game birds is on our public lands in the Western U.S..","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Here is your country - 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