COLORADO 2011: Dust Bowl

Day 9 / April 15 – We made it to the East Blind well before dawn to view Lesser Prairie-Chicken’s on the lek without having tire problems – that was an accomplishment given yesterdays ordeal! Ron, Vicky and Richard opted to head into the blind while Carol and I watched the show from the vehicle 50 feet away.

Lesser Prairie-Chickens (above) just reach their north western range limits in this part of southern western Kansas and south eastern Colorado. Their habitat is characterized by short and mid-height grasses, sagebrush and yucca, from which they can be seen perched upon. From our vantage point, the lek which was about 60 meters way, was covered in grasses about 9-12 inches tall, which meant that we could only see the top half of the birds, including their ornamental pinnae (erect neck feathers) and erect tail as they ran back and forth. With the wind blowing it made it tough to hear the booming calls and cackling that the males make.

As the light got better we could see a very active lek. There was also a number of traps and mesh fencing on the lek, that was likely to aid in catching the birds to band them. However that did not deter the action. In all, we could see about 15 males split into two smaller leks. Occasionally one or two would jump up, no doubt because a female had appeared, or, one would land on top of a trap to scope out the scene.

By daylight we could see the contrasting colors of the bare parts, yellow comb and red-orange timpani (air sacs on their neck) that help in separating this species from Greater Prairie-Chickens. By sunrise the activity had died down consideable and all I could think of was that a female, or females, whom we could not see, must have walked off the lek. One male (above) took flight and flew right between the blind and our vehicle.

The winter in this part of the country has been mild with only one 3 inch snow storm. Sadly they have had only an inch of rain in the last 9 months! Needless to say, everything is dry and the farmers are feeling the effects of this drought.

The wind was the story of the day, and while we thought it was bad while viewing the Lesser Prairie-Chickens, it got worse! Beginning at breakfast it was blowing a constant 50 mph. The sky was light brown, tumbleweed migrated across the plains en-mass, all this being reminiscent of the dust bowl. Even the residents in Elkhart remarked that they had never seen anything like this.

There were times when we could not see in front of us (above) and were forced to stop till it passed. Elsewhere in the state we heard that snow had closed some of the major roads. Welcome to Colorado in spring, where absolutely any type of weather is possible.

Once back in Colorado we stopped at NeeNoshe Reservoir (above), but could barely stand outside and scoping was next to impossible. However there were many Shovelers and a Snowy Plover. We no doubt missed many.

Continuing north along the eastern border of Colorado, it was not until late afternoon that we reached Bonny Lake. Here the wind was a little more manageable. Along the entrance road we came across Eastern Bluebirds and a huge flock of ‘Rio Grande’ Wild Turkeys. A Long-eared Owl was partially visible in her nest in a dense stand of evergreens and White-tailed Deer turned and ran with their white tails held high as soon as they saw us. Sadly we were running out of time and had to get to Wray in time for our orientation at the Museum for the mornings tour to see the Greater Prairie-Chickens.