The mission of the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRF) is to “protect our state’s lands, waters, and wildlife by providing funding, leading partnerships, and connecting all people to nature.” The NRF organizes people all across the state to offer hundreds of field trips each year. The fees collected for each trip go to the NRF or other designated non-profit group.
I had been wait-listed on this morning’s very early (4 am) NRF trip to Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area south of Wausau about 30 miles, but thank goodness, at the last minute a space opened up. After our group met, we were led out to the fields where we split into two groups of 4 people each to go to the two different blinds, each of which is positioned in the middle of a lek area where Greater Prairie-Chickens display during the breeding season. Our wooden blind mounted on a wheeled base was set in the middle of a flat field where beans are grown during the summer but was now just dirt and old plants. These birds, while occurring in a couple of other states in the US, are very much threatened in Wisconsin and are only found in the center of the state in a few restricted areas. We sat on wooden benches totally protected from the elements, with openable windows to allow us to better hear and to photograph the chickens when they arrived.
We began to hear to their moaning hoots and clucks about 5:25. Soon after that we could see dim views of them as they danced around, sometimes having what seemed to be mock fights with other males. At first we could only see the displaying males, about 8-9 of them. Eventually three females casually appeared, pecking at the ground, while the males danced around. They moved around our blind coming closer and moving away as they danced, clearly accustomed to its presence. About an hour later, the females disappeared, but the males, now up to 12 or so, carried on. I’m not sure if they thought the females were still lurking nearby in the taller grass surrounding the lek area, which could have been the case, or if they were just practicing for tomorrow’s display. By about 7:30, most of the males had gone, and we headed back to the meeting area for coffee, food, and discussion about the world of the Prairie-Chickens and the people who manage and/or own the land where the Prairie-Chickens live.
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 