[Birdtalk] Gunnison Sage-grouse Field Trip

[Buck Russell]

This past weekend I was able to visit the Monticello area to experience the Gunnison Sage-grouse.  A small group of us traveled to see these wonderful birds.  The two leks we visited are on private land.  We coordinated our trip with Guy Wallace, DWR biologist, and his wife Tammy, BLM biologist.  They gave us a wonderful overview on the birds life and condition and took us out to the leks on Saturday morning.  If you would like to visit the leks next Spring, you should contact them and make arrangements.  They host two field trips per year and do the coordination with local landowners.  Last year the number of Gunnison Sage-grouse in the Monticello area increased, something that did not happen in the other isolated pockets of Gunnison Sage-grouse.  The close coordination between the ranchers, DWR, BLM, Nature Conservancy, and CRP program has really worked well in the Monticello area.   There are probably other groups helping with the grouse that I am not aware of and I intend no disrespect by not mentioning them.  The weather was wonderful and we had excellent views of the birds.  We saw about 19 males on the first lek.  I’ve had some limited exposure to Greater Sage Grouse leks and thought that I could hear a difference in calls and sounds between the two types of Sage Grouse.  The male Gunnison Sage-grouse has what appeared to be a “pony tail” on the back of their heads that they “flipped” forward as they did struts and booming sounds.  Maybe they are the hippies of the grouse world.  I only saw one female in the group, but I could tell from the males behavior that there were others in the area.   It was wonderful to learn about the close cooperation between the various groups in the Monticello area in protecting these birds, birds that are declining in population in other areas, and losing their natural habitat.  The private land between the two leks we visited is now at risk of being subdivided.  There is a strong potential of these birds losing even more critical habitat.  If anyone from the Audubon Council happens to read this email, perhaps this is something you could consider at your retreat next summer?  The folks in the Monticello area are doing a wonderful job managing these birds.  Perhaps Audubon could find a way of bringing some additional resources to help the Monticello coalition with the private land that could soon be subdivided and lost.  
It was a wonderful field trip and I offer my thanks to the Wallaces for the great experience.
Buck Russell
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