The Grouse Leks of the High Plains and Rocky Mountains
An exciting opportunity to join Dick Filby next spring on one of his most favourite trips
This popular tour, led by Rare Bird Alert’s founder Dick Filby, has been running for two decades and combines great birding, lots of mammals and incredible scenery. Dick spends several weeks of every year in Colorado and take a huge personal pride in running very successful trips in an area that he loves and that he knows well.
The primary focus of the trip are visits to several very dramatic grouse leks: There are more grouse species in Colorado than anywhere else in North America, and there is no better place to view them than here.
The leks are totally spellbinding with some of the most incredible display rituals in the avian world, each species having its own unique and bizarre performance, complete with eerie vocalisations and other sounds. In position at each lek prior to dawn, normally in a private hide, it’s hard to describe the thrill as the spectacle unfolds, but each absorbing and intimate experience is always a highlight.
The itinerary includes visits to leks of Greater Sage-Grouse, Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Greater Prairie Chicken and Lesser Prairie Chicken, and will also seek displaying Dusky Grouse, Wild Turkeys, coveys of Scaled and Gambel’s Quails and the enigmatic and beautiful White-tailed Ptarmigan. It is not a photographic trip as such, but great photo and video opportunities abound. From the boundless eastern plains to the dramatic snow-capped Rocky Mountains, with jagged peaks and deep canyons, to the desert on the Utah border, the scenery is often nothing short of stunning.
Dick takes time on this tour to include more than just the grouse as there are numerous other exciting birds to look for including American White Pelican, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Bald Eagle, Prairie Falcon, Sandhill Crane, Mountain Plover, American Avocet, White-throated Swift, Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Lewis’s, Red-bellied and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Williamson’s and Red-naped Sapsuckers, Western Kingbird, Steller’s, Woodhouse’s Scrub and Pinyon Jays, Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Rock, Canyon, and Marsh Wrens, American Dipper, Eastern, Western and Mountain Bluebirds, Sage and Curve-billed Thrashers, Green-tailed, Spotted and Canyon Towhees, Rufous-crowned, Brewer’s, Vesper, Lark, Fox, Lincoln’s and White-crowned Sparrows, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Grey-crowned, Brown-capped and Black Rosy Finches, Lesser and American Goldfinches and Evening Grosbeak. The triplist is normally in excess of 160 bird species.
If the weather cooperates, the plan is to seek several species of owls including Burrowing, Western and Eastern Screech and Great Horned, as well as Boreal.
The mammals seen on this trip are truly mouthwatering and have included Mountain Lion (Puma), Bobcat, Black Bear, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Moose, Elk, Pronghorn Antelope, American Badger, American Marten, River Otter, Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel, Ord’s Kangaroo Rat and many more. Around 30 species of mammal is normal and Dick does his best to ensure that we enjoy seeing plenty.
Whilst this tour is not designed specifically for photographers, it offers some good chances at some (but not all) leks and of many other birds too. Longer lenses will always offer the best opportunities, whilst phone-scoped video can capture truly memorable, excellent, near-full-frame footage at most leks.
The trip involves going to bed early and getting up very early. Basic fitness is essential, but with no long walks planned this is not a physically demanding tour apart from the early starts. The birding is generally from close to the vehicle, including the private hides. The trip is based on travel in a 15passenger van, but with never more than 7 participants plus the driver/guide, there will always be some empty seats to allow for a more comfortable experience.
For more information, please visit the WildWings website, click here to download the Tour Information Pack or call 0117 965 8333.
Wildwings
November 2024
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