The area around Pierre and Ft. Pierre National Grassland in South Dakota is quickly becoming one of my favorite areas in the country. The beautiful rolling hills, prairie dog towns, intersting wildlife communities, sparse human population, and beautiful evenings make this a great place for natural history study, photography, and just sitting and enjoying the open space and subtle beauty of the prairie.

The area is also great for interesting birds as was evidenced by the five Whooping Cranes that I saw this morning.

These birds were from the only self-sustaining wild population of this species – one of the rarest birds in the world. This population breeds in Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park and winters in coastal marshes in Texas. The population declined to only 16 individuals by 1941 as a consequence of hunting and specimen collection, human disturbance, and conversion of the primary nesting habitat to hay, pasture land, and grain production. It now contains around 200 individuals. These birds were foraging in a corn field and apparently awaiting some south winds in order to continue their migration north.

A pair of adult Whooping Cranes foraging in a corn field

Our tallest North American bird

Later in the morning I searched for the signs of a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek (droppings and feathers plucked during fights) in a prairie dog town where I photographed them a couple of years ago. After some searching I found the spot, set up my blind, and enjoyed the beautiful rolling hills. Chorus frogs were in full chorus in a small wetland near the lek, a pair of Marbled Godwits winged by, and a big surprise – a Sprague’s Pipit sang several times overhead.

This evening I visited another prairie dog town and photographed Chestnut-collared Longspurs. As the light waned and the sun went down, Greater Prairie-Chickens were booming form a nearby lek and a half dozen Burrowing Owls began to chorus from their respective burrows.

I spent the last few days in extreme southwest Kansas visiting the Cimarron National Grassland and surrounding area. Spring has arrived here and the short grass prairie is full of life and bird song. Grasshopper, Cassin’s, and Lark Sparrows along with Western Meadowlarks and Lark Buntings have been the most conspicuous grassland species. This evening I watched as thunderstorms made their way over the golden prairie punctuated here and there by prairie yucca. As the sun went down the owls came out – I saw a Short-eared Owl wing silently by as several Burrowing Owls called in the distance. As it got darker both Barn Owls and a Great Horned Owl called as well.

Grasshopper Sparrows were abundant and singing in areas of longer grass

The last two morning I have been photographing Lesser Prairie-Chickens at a lek south of the Cimarron River. Lesser Prairie-Chickens are very active on their leks. Males make a variety of raucous vocalizations and actively move around the lek challenging other males at territorial boundaries. This was my first experience with Lesser Prairie-Chickens and I have found them to be every bit as interesting as Greater Prairie-Chickens and quite a bit more lively. I was lucky to have one still morning and made a surround-sound recording of the action.

Displaying male Lesser Prairie-Chickens before sunrise

I’ll have to keep this post short (again) as I’m headed north with little time to spare.

Huddled in our blind on a cold dark morning we felt certain the Golden Eagle would again streak in and flush the Gunnison Sage-Grouse as it did yesterday. Fortunately, we were wrong. Instead, David and I enjoyed a beautiful morning filming and recording grouse as they displayed, mated, and fought. At least fifteen males and ten or more females were present and active around our blind.

A male Gunnison Sage-Grouse displaying before sunrise

Displaying male Gunnison Sage-Grouse

Female Gunnison Sage-Grouse crossing the lek

We are on a tight schedule so thats it for now. Check my stock archive in a few weeks to see all the photos!

This morning was spent scouting a Gunnison Sage-Grouse lek where David Brown and I hope to film and record for the next two days. We arrived with our host pre-dawn in order to observe the lek from a distance and get an idea of where the best spots would be to place our blind. Despite arriving in total darkness and having received a bit of snow over night we heard birds displaying shortly after we arrived – a good sign that we are near the peak of the breeding season for these birds. As time went on we began to be able to make out individual birds and saw that at least 10 males were present. Unfortunately, just before dawn, a Golden Eagle made a pass at the birds, sending them far off into the sage. Unlike other prairie grouse species, Gunnison Sage-Grouse generally will not return to their lek on a day when they have been disturbed. Knowing this, we left the lek and explored the area a bit and were lucky to find several individuals displaying near a road on a nearby ridge.

Later in the morning we selected a spot for a blind and set up our gear. Hopefully the eagle will leave the grouse to their business for the two days we will be aloud on the lek!

Snow covered sage near the Gunnison Sage-Grouse lek we scouted this morning

A lone male Gunnison Sage-Grouse displaying on a nearby ridge

A male Gunnison Sage-Grouse at the height of his display

A male Gunnsion Sage-Grouse in flight. Males were moving throughout the area following females.

This is my first post of what I hope will become a more regular routine for me. Its been a while…

I’m off early tomorrow morning for a two-week whirlwind trip during which I hope to photograph and record surround sound audio of Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Greater Sage-Grouse, and Lesser Prairie Chicken. I’ll post what I can from the field but in the meantime here’s a shot of two Greater Prairie-Chickens fighting from my last grouse trip two years ago.

Gerrit was the primary photographer for the unprecedented “State of the Birds” report that was produced by a coalition of leading environmental organizations along with state and federal environmental agencies
and announced by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today.

“Birds are bellwethers of our natural and cultural health as a nation—they are indicators of the integrity of the environments that provide us with clean air and water, fertile soils, abundant wildlife, and the natural resources on which our economic development depends. In the past 40 years, major public, private, and government initiatives have made strides for conservation. Has it been enough? How are birds faring?

In an unprecedented partnership, government wildlife agencies and conservation groups have come together to produce this first comprehensive analysis of the state of our nation’s birds. The results are sobering: bird populations in many habitats are declining—a warning signal of the failing health of our ecosystems. Where we have been negligent too long, such as in Hawaii, we are on the verge of losing entire suites of unique and beautiful birds and native plant communities.

At the same time, we see heartening evidence that birds can respond quickly and positively to conservation action. Many waterfowl species have undergone significant increases in the past 40 years, a testament to coordinated conservation efforts in wetlands. Through focused conservation efforts, we have brought magnificent Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles back from the brink of extinction.”

You can download a PDF of the report here: REPORT

Last night was particularly beautiful on the tundra. I stayed up most of the night and enjoyed the beautiful light on this arctic prairie. The sun is now just touching the horizon at its lowest point in the night, casting a golden light over the land for many hours as the days get shorter—the subtleties of the landscape revealed in shadows. The calls and choruses of Yellow-billed, Pacific, and Red-throated loons periodically punctuated the stillness, arriving from lakes near and far. Occasionally a juvenile shorebird would burst from beneath my feet to join others quietly foraging on the muddy bottom of a drying pond.

Tundra at midnight

I had expected to find the region south of Teshekpuk Lake to be rather bland and lifeless in comparison to the more productive areas near the coast. Instead I found the southern part of the Teshekpuk Lake region to be as vibrant as any—and the landscape and wilderness qualities to be even more compelling.

Touching the horizon

I’m back in Deadhorse after several days of recording southwest of the lake. Though recording loons was again challenging, I was able to acquire some good material for the collection. I’ve still got many hours of remotely-recorded material to listen to on my long journey home. This afternoon I’ll board a plane and wrestle baggage for the last time. Tomorrow I’ll be back in New York.

A freshly plumaged juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper fattening up for the long journey south

Thank you to the many people in Alaska and elsewhere who made this work possible— financially, logistically, or otherwise. And to those back at the Lab who have picked up duties in my absence. Thanks to all who have followed our journey. It has been a pleasure sharing it with you.

A Sabine's Gull in flight

Weather kept us holed up for large portions of the last few days. We were able to fly out to banding sites and survey the area from the air, but conditions were too poor to land for a period long enough to round up and band birds. I’m now back in Deadhorse while the amphibious plane we’ll be using for loon work gets its 100-hour inspection. We hope to travel to the southwest side of Teshekpuk Lake tomorrow to begin an aerial survey for Yellow-billed Loons and establish a field camp for the remainder of my time in Alaska.

Caribou and shadows

Clear skies in the morning allowed us to get into the field early and spend a long day and evening banding. We worked on three lakes in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area and banded about 1,000 Brant.

Banding Brant in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area

A flock of molting Brant

I was picked up from Lonely today and joined United States Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists to band Brant in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. From the air, we were able to survey the huge concentrations of molting, flightless Brant and other geese that gather here each year. On the ground, we used three float planes and 10 people to round up and band about 300 birds.

Molting Brant

Molting Greater White-fronted Geese

The Teshekpuk Lake area is a critical goose molting area of international importance. Upwards of 100,000 geese come here from as far away as the Canadian and Russian Arctic. Birds also come from within Alaska, including a large number from the Yukon Delta to the south. It has been protected as a “special area” of critical ecological importance within the National Petroleum Reserve since 1976. This designation meant that the wildlife, subsistence, and cultural values were to receive maximum protection under any future development scenario. Until recently, it was enough to protect this pristine place.

More information on efforts to protect this area can be found at ak.audubon.org and savetlake.org.

Tundra polygons, caused by the freezing of the earth and subsequent freezing and thawing of water in the cracks, are a common feature on the coastal plain

The eroding coastline of the Beaufort Sea