Today was our last viewing for the 2018 season. It was 39 degrees and clear skies this morning. 3 males and 1 female were observed on the east ridge at 6:25 am. No sage-grouse were seen in the north meadow or main lek. Thank you to everyone that was able to come out and view our awesome Gunnison Sage-grouse this year! :)

It was 29 degrees this morning and calm. A coyote was heard howling at 5:18 and 5:36 am. The first sage-grouse was observed on the east ridge at 5:56 am. A total of 1 male and 4 females were observed on the east ridge today. At 6:27 am, all the birds stepped over to the other side of the ridge and were out of view. Tomorrow is our last viewing of the season, Wednesday and Thursday are both closed days.

We had a clear morning, 32 degrees today. Cattle were grazing in the north meadow and no sage-grouse were observed there. The first male was seen on the east ridge at 5:27 am. At 6:22 am a male was chasing a female on the east ridge! A total of 11 males and 1 female were observed on the east ridge.

This morning was 33 degrees, mostly clear skies, and calm. 2 males were first observed on the east ridge at 5:55 am. At 6:37 am, a total of 7 males and 0 females were observed on the ridge. At 7:14 am a coyote was on the ridge, but no disturbance was noticed. No sage-grouse were observed in the north meadow or main lek.

This morning was 30 degrees with about 50% cloud coverage. Cattle were out grazing in the north meadow again, so no sage-grouse were observed there. At 6:15 am 6 males were observed on the east ridge. By 6:36 am, a total of 8 males were observed and no females for the morning.

This morning was smokey and led to low visibility. However, sage-grouse were still observed! At 5:55 the first male was observed on the east ridge, later in the morning a total of 8 males and 3 females were counted on the east ridge at 7:15 am. By 7:20 am all the birds walked to the other side of the ridge and could not be seen anymore.

Today was a warm morning at 39 degrees, it was cloudy when we first arrived to the site, but quickly cleared up! There were cows grazing in the north meadow all morning, and we did not see any sage-grouse out there. At 5:40 am the first 2 male sage-grouse were spotted on the east ridge. We saw a total of 8 males and 1 female on the east ridge, at about 6:00 am.

This morning was 30 degrees, calm, and about 15% cloud coverage. Volunteers observed the first 2 grouse on the east ridge at 5:53 am.They also observed 7 males in the north meadow. Cows (about 50) were out grazing in the north meadow and the volunteers saw an additional 5 grouse (unknown gender) fly away as the cows got closer. At 6:30 am, the volunteers saw all 12 grouse flush (including the previous 5). On the east ridge 7 males were observed at 6:34 am and 1 female.This morning volunteers saw a total of 20 sage-grouse!

This morning was 27 degrees with clear skies. The first sage-grouse was spotted on the east ridge at 5:35 am, it was still very dark at this time, but we were able to see him walking around! We later saw one male in the north meadow at 5:52 am. At 5:45 am, we saw 5 on the east ridge (3 males and 2 unknowns, it was still dark)! Later, we counted 7 males and 2 females on the east ridge. This morning we saw a total of 8 males (7 on the east ridge and 1 in the north meadow) and 2 females. Between 6:57 and 7:03 all the birds flushed.

This morning was a clear morning at 19 degrees. The first of the sage grouse were observed at 6:08 am on the east ridge. This morning a total of 11 males were observed on the east ridge and 1 female on the east ridge. No birds were observed in the north meadow or the main lek.

Sunday, April 22 (Earth Day!), we saw 5 males on the east ridge as well as two males that looked like females (they still had the white chest)! It was a beautiful and clear morning and many people came out to view the sage-grouse!

Today, volunteers observed 2 males and 2 females. It was another beautiful and clear morning! Coyotes were heard howling early in the morning again, but they did not seem to affect the grouse.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are both no viewing days, the site will be completely closed on these days, but will be open on Thursday!

It was a beautiful clear morning at 24 degrees this morning! The first sighting of the sage-grouse was at 6:07 am and 2 males and 1 female was observed on the east ridge. As the morning progressed, a total of 15 males and 3 females were observed on the east ridge!! 2 males were also observed in the north meadow. It was a very active morning! Just a reminder, tomorrow and Saturday (April 20th and 21st) are no viewing days, the entire site will be closed on these days but will be open again on Sunday for viewings.

We had a very cold morning at 12 degrees with clear skies. Around 5:25 am we heard a coyote howling in the distance. Shortly after an animal was observed sprinting quickly through the main lek field, it was too dark to identify the animal.We only observed two males on the east ridge and a female in the main lek. The males flushed around 7 am.

We had a clear and calm morning at 32 degrees! Early in the morning a coyote was howling, but did not seem to affect the birds. The first male sage-grouse was observed at 5:55 am. Volunteers this morning saw a total of 10 males and two unknown birds. 4 males flushed from the east ridge at 7:20 am, and those were the last birds to be observed this morning.

This morning was a warmer morning, 32 degrees! We had about 50% cloud cover. In the north meadow two males were observed, about 40 minutes later they flushed because cattle were out grazing and a coyote was also observed. On the east ridge 5 males were spotted, and no females were observed for the whole morning. Just a reminder for anyone planning to come view the lek 32 degrees was a "warm" morning, so please wear many layers, socks, hats, gloves and a blanket!

15 April 2018

Greetings Gunnison Sage-grouse lovers!

Sorry that we have not had the BLOG up and running this year but finally figured out the problem.

The birds are present at the lek and doing their mating dance.  This morning (Sunday April 15) our volunteers reported 15 Gunnison Sage-grouse at the lek.  It was a chilly and beautiful April morning.  At least one female was observed as well and that usually makes the males more active.

Prior to this morning we had some stormy weather the last several days and only two grouse were present on the blustery morning of Saturday April 14 and only for a few minutes in the dark.  Unfortunately many visitors did not see the birds on Saturday.  I guess that's how it goes with wildlife watching; can be very disappointing.  Having said that, with less than 4,000 Gunnison Sage-grouse remaining on the planet it is good to keep the big picture in mind that we are blessed to see them at all and here at Sisk-a-dee we will continue to promote the conservation of this wonderful bird.  We appreciate all of you doing your part as well.  Many thanks and happy grousing.