Subject: Sage Grouse and Blue Jay
Date: Mar 16 21:37:05 2003
From: Gary Wiles - wilesharkey at yahoo.com


Tweeters,

My wife and I ventured over to Douglas County this weekend specifically to
look for Sage Grouse at the Leahy Junction site. We arrived at the lek
site at 6 a.m. this morning and were able to watch the birds for three
hours from the slightly elevated roadside berm located several hundred
yards to the southeast. The viewing became quite good after the morning
fog finally burned off and we eventually saw 19 males and at least 10
females. This was my first time to see any species of bird on a lek and
the behavior of both sexes was engrossing. We didn't spot the females
until about 8 a.m., when 5-6 were seen moving as a group among 5-6 of the
males. Although the females seemed to be simply milling around, they were
undoubtedly assessing the performances of the different males as they
stood within a few feet of each male during his displays. Made me glad I
wasn't born a Sage Grouse!

We then drove to Bridgeport, where a mini-mart clerk noticed the
binoculars hanging from our necks and reported that a birdwatcher had seen
the Blue Jay in town just yesterday. She didn't know where, however, and
we spent the next 90 minutes driving back and forth through the entire
town twice. We never did locate the bird, but found at least 6 Say's
Phoebes scattered around town.

Other trip highlights were a couple of Northern Shrikes, including one at
the grouse lek, a Short-eared Owl and Golden Eagle on Saturday evening
along St. Andrews Road, and singing meadowlarks everywhere.

Gary Wiles
Tumwater, WA
wilesharkey at yahoo.com

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