Tuesday, May 14, 2013

9 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 2
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 1

10 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:10
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 1
Majority of birds flushed ~15minutes before sunrise.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

5 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:3

6 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 13
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 2
One copulation was witnessed today! Quite a few males were in the Nothern pasture this morning.

7 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:0
Booming highly audible this morning. Good visibility this morning despite clouds and early flush at 5:40am.

8 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 5
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:0
Despite the rain, five hard-core males were out there displaying this morning. Even with clouds  and rain visibility was great. Birds flushed around 5:43am.

The last day that a volunteer will be in the parking lot this season will be Friday, May 10.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

30 April 2013
NO BIRDS ON LEK TODAY

1 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 7
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 0
Birds flushed at 5:46 am today  because of horses running around on lek.

2 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 5
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 0
Birds flushed at 5:34 am-no apparent cause.

3 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 0
Birds flushed at 5:40am-no apparent cause.

4 May 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 0
Birds flushed at 5:38am and 5:39am.

Lekking season is winding down here While the males are still vigorously displaying, no females have been present on the lek for the past week My guess is that most females are beginning to sit on their nests and prepare for the summer season of brood-rearing.
Happy Spring!

Monday, April 29, 2013

27 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 8
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:0
Another morning of early, active displays. Coyotes caused early flush at 5:39am.

28 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 6
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 0
Birds flushed early at 5:36 am likely because of white-tailed jackrabbits running around on lek. Observer then noticed two other birds far north of the lek, when they flushed at 6:07am 14 were counted, but no accurate sex counts could be made.

29 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:10
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:0
Grouse flushed at 5:40am when coyotes came onto lek.

The season is wrapping up. Volunteers will be present at the viewing lot until May 11. The site is open to public viewing until May 15.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

24 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 10
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:4
Birds flushed around 5am, probably due to coyote presence on lek.

25 April 2013
NO BIRDS ON THE LEK TODAY.Inclement weather.

26 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 11
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 1
Could see the grouse starting around 4:45 am due to full moon. Active display today, despite early flush at 5:44 am.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

18 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:10
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:4
Coyotes flushed grouse off lek ~27minutes before sunrise.

19 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:5
Grouse flushed ~1minute before sunrise. 1 copulation!

20 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:8
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:0
The grouse flushed early today, although visibility was OK before flushed. Unknown what caused flush.

21 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:10
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:2
Majority of males were much further south of the H-brace than usual. Grouse flushed early again, possibly because of late arrival of parking lot visitor. Please remember to arrive at least 1 hour before sunrise if you are planning to view the grouse.

22 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:7
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:1
Grouse flushed at 5:56 am. 2 coyotes were seen moving on to the lek at time of flush.

23 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:2
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:0
Light snow today. Visibility was OK though. Grouse flushed soon after volunteer saw them. "Bubbling" was audible.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

15 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 2
Birds flushed by 0615. Last male flushed off lek by Golden Eagle, appears to be a popular theme this season.

16 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 8
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 3
Birds flushed at 0610 as Golden Eagle flew over.

17 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 8
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 1
Lost another male grouse to a Golden Eagle today. Although this is bad news for the GUSG, it is a natural process and we must remember that the Golden Eagle is as much a part as the landscape as the GUSG. Our volunteers always enjoy seeing the act-an excellent example of predator and prey. Always sounds like a very powerful experience.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Updates from the past week. It's a busy time here in Gunnison!

5 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 17
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 11
Today was a good show, the GUSG flushed ~8 minutes after sunrise when a Red-tailed Hawk arrived.

6 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:10
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:10
Volunteer reports multiple copulations-good for this species! Birds flushed ~6minutes after sunrise, reason unknown.

7 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:12
FEMALE HIGH COUNT:20
Unusually high number for females- a few bushes may have been counted, but nevertheless a good show from the birds.

8 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT:13
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 12
A great day today, except for one male that got picked off by a Golden Eagle. Birds flushed ~11 minutes before sunrise when the big predator joined them for breakfast.

9 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 16
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 5
A typical Colorado spring day-SNOW! Visibility was low and grouse flushed ~3 minutes before sunrise.

10 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 11
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 7
Another snowy spring day. Birds flushed ~8 minutes before sunrise.

11 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 9
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 7
Birds flushe ~13 minutes after sunrise, possibly due to coyote presence on the lek.

12 April 2013
MALE HIGH COUNT: 11
FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 5
Great day to be a grouse-3 copulations! The males appeared to be a little picky today though-one female seemed to be presenting herself, but none of the males seemed too interested. Are we beginning to see the Allee Effect in action? Two groups of grouse flushed 13 and 4 minutes before sunrise.

13 April 2013
HIGH COUNT: 18
Good male and female ratio. A copulation was witnessed!

14 April 2013
NO BIRDS TODAY!
A terrible/excellent example of a Colorado spring day today. Blowing snow, bad, slick roads, gusts up to 25mph. We showed up, but the grouse did not tell us they wouldn't be there. Unfortunately this nasty weather is supposed to stick around off and on till Wednesday. If you are driving out to the lek, be careful!!!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

3 April 2013
Today was a classic Colorado Spring Day-blowing snow in the morning and a sunny afternoon. Today's high count was 19 birds. MALE HIGH COUNT: 18 FEMALE HIGH COUNT:1 The birds flushed early due to inclement weather-blowing, wet snow.

4 April 2013
Today was an exciting day for our volunteer. A copulation and a couple wing fights were witnessed. Today's high count was 32 birds. MALE HIGH COUNT: 21 FEMALE HIGH COUNT: 9 UNKNOWN SEX HIGH COUNT:2

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

2 April 2013
Today was another good day on the Waunita lek-relatively calm air and good visibility.
We had high counts today of 31 MALES and 6 FEMALES. The birds have been sticking around for at least 30 minutes after sunrise, making for good viewing! Still keep looking to the North  at the base of the hill. Happy birding to you!

Monday, April 1, 2013

31 March 2013 marked the first day of the viewing season for our dedicated volunteers. We started the morning at 5am and headed out to Waunita Lek. Fourteen volunteers were present.
The morning started out cool, with decent visibility-the air was virtually still.
We had an initial high count of 21 MALES and 4 FEMALES. However when more than we had counted flushed we realized the birds were a lot more dispersed than usual. If you are viewing the birds expand your search to the North and into the hills East of the lek-the sage-brush makes it a challenge!
By the end of the morning we had counted between 49 and 53 flushed individuals-an outstanding number of grouse when we consider that the high count at Waunita Lek was 25 individual birds last year.

1 April 2013 marked the first day that the lek is open to public and commercial viewing.
MALE high count: 17
FEMALE high count: 6
Today was a strange Colorado spring day and a brief snow storm caused the birds to flush.
Fortunately it does not appear that the birds are continuing their early flush pattern from last year.