{"id":9140,"date":"2013-08-08T03:45:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T09:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9140"},"modified":"2024-09-02T08:12:04","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T13:12:04","slug":"greater-sage-grouse-of-beaverhead-county-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/08\/greater-sage-grouse-of-beaverhead-county-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Sage-Grouse Of Beaverhead County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133622 size-full\" title=\"Female Greater Sage-Grouse in the Centennial Valley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874.jpg\" alt=\"Female Greater Sage-Grouse in the Centennial Valley, Montana\" width=\"850\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27474%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20474%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27474%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-200x112.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-250x139.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-400x223.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-600x335.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-768x428.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874-800x446.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/>Female Greater Sage-Grouse in the Centennial Valley<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I saw and photographed my first Greater Sage-Grouse this summer in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Beaverhead_County,_Montana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Beaverhead County, Montana<\/span><\/a> while traveling through the Centennial Valley. Yay!<\/p>\n<p>I was excited to see them on two different trips, one time in poor light and once in better light.\u00a0 Currently Greater Sage-Grouse are only found in 56% of their historical range due to habitat destruction and human encroachment. They need our protection now.<\/p>\n<p>There were about 12 Greater Sage-Grouse in the area where I photographed this hen and the other out of focus birds. I had to shoot between barbed wire strands to get this image.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133623 size-full\" title=\"Male Greater Sage-Grouse\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753.jpg\" alt=\"Male Greater Sage-Grouse in wildflowers in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-9753.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/>Male Greater Sage-Grouse<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I photographed this male earlier in July than the image at the top, the light was terrible and the grouse was quite a distance away but I love the wildflowers in the setting.<\/p>\n<p>Seriously, if these beautiful upland game birds are denied the protection they need now is there any guarantee that by the time they are given protection under the Endangered Species Act that there <em>will<\/em> be time to save them? I hope so. I really do.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/greater-sage-grouse-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Greater Sage-Grouse photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I saw and photographed my first Greater Sage-Grouse this summer in Beaverhead County, Montana while traveling through the Centennial Valley. Yay! Lifer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133622,"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":[1513,27,223,2319,12],"tags":[4004,2320,4134,4070,4109,3492,4359,4062,2817,4789,4057,401,4307,102,4193],"class_list":["post-9140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-greater-sage-grouse","category-montana","tag-adult","tag-centrocercus-urophasianus","tag-chick","tag-female","tag-grasses","tag-grouse","tag-hen","tag-male","tag-sage","tag-sage-grouse","tag-sagebrush","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-wildflowers","tag-wildlife","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-chicks-mia-mcpherson-7874.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2nq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17820,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/18\/summer-memories-of-greater-sage-grouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":9140,"position":0},"title":"Summer Memories of Greater Sage-Grouse","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I was going back through some of the images I took this past summer and came across this photo of a Greater Sage-Grouse I photographed in July.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Greater Sage-Grouse in Montana, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16090,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/14\/greater-sage-grouse-among-the-lupine\/","url_meta":{"origin":9140,"position":1},"title":"Greater Sage-Grouse among the Lupine","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If hope is the thing with feathers then I want to heap as much hope as I can find into the future of Greater Sage-Grouse.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Greater Sage-Grouse among the lupine in Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-adult-mia-mcpherson-3450.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-3450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-adult-mia-mcpherson-3450.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-adult-mia-mcpherson-3450.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15532,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/01\/greater-sage-grouse-another-species-on-the-edge\/","url_meta":{"origin":9140,"position":2},"title":"Greater Sage-Grouse &#8211; Another Species On The Edge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Greater Sage-Grouse should already be on the endangered species list but they aren't.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Greater Sage-Grouse, grasses and rabbitbrush in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-3562.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-female-mia-mcpherson-3562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-3562.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/greater-sage-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-3562.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4797,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/19\/female-greater-sage-grouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":9140,"position":3},"title":"Female Greater Sage-Grouse","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this female Greater Sage-Grouse while up in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Greater Sage-Grouse in East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-0971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-0971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-0971.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/greater-sage-grouse-mia-mcpherson-0971.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":9140,"position":4},"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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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":21090,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/29\/travelogue-day-4-more-greater-sage-grouse-and-one-stunning-mountain-bluebird\/","url_meta":{"origin":9140,"position":5},"title":"Greater Sage-Grouse and One Stunning Mountain Bluebird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I was stunned and amazed to find not just one Greater Sage-Grouse leks but TWO!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Greater Sage-Grouse in evening light on March 28, 2015, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5828.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5828.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\/9140","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=9140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}