We had a generally similar experience at this lek on April 7, and I echo all of Dave's advice about viewing conditions and recommendations (car-mounted scope especially). Also complicating things at the pullout, some large informational signs are poorly placed such that they block the view from some parking spots.
About 20 birds flushed shortly after official sunrise time (a cloud bank to the east meant it was not yet very light on the lek) - we believe due to a Rough-legged Hawk in the vicinity. A few minutes later, another 7 birds emerged from cover and continued their activity on the lek for another 20 minutes. So don't give up too soon ! - Sandra Laursen, Boulder On Friday, April 12, 2013 12:10:02 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote: > > After visiting the Gunnison Sage-Grouse lek in the early morning of > 10April2013, David Ely, Davis Noble, and myself visited a feeder just west > of SR135 about 4 miles north of Gunnison (Gunnison) on Evelyn Lane (actual > address 110, which is basically at the intersection of Evelyn and Debbie > Way). As you head west on Evelyn, it is the first house you come to with > feeders on the left (south side of the road), and is maybe 1 tenth of a > mile off 135. At this feeder we had 11 Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, 1 Black > Rosy-Finch, a few Cassin's Finches, and one "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow. > > A word about the Waunita Springs (887 Road) grouse lek: apparently the > birds are not lingering on the lek nearly as long as they used to. We saw > 13 birds on the morning of the 10th. Be sure to follow the rules and get > there in the dark *1 hour before* official sunrise (sunrise tomorrow is > 6:45am MST) and be prepared. They start dancing in the dark and about as > soon as it gets light enough to see them at a distance of a couple hundred > yards, they could fly off for the rest of the day. On the overcast morning > we were there, we had about 15-30 minutes of viewing before it was all > over. Photography opportunities are all but nil due to distance and low > light. Personally, I would try to get a window-mounted scope view and > forget about taking pictures. > > Dave Leatherman > Fort Collins > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/O_9f-Ssm6joJ. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
