Dengler Images

Sights and sounds from a Columbian sharp-tailed grouse lek

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This two-minute video from a Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) lek is made up of mostly slow-motion footage to see the detail in the movement of the fast-moving grouse. Sharp-tailed grouse gather at the same exact spot (called a lek) in the spring to mate. Males will face off and battle each other for dominance and attract the attention of females. Things to pay attention to: near the end of the video you can see the fast-moving mating dance that the males perform to attract females. I love how the males flick the tip of their tails back and forth, something that can only be seen in slow motion. The same goes for the stomping of their fur-like covered feet. In the final clip, a group of males tries to catch the attention of a female, but she’s not interested in any of the suitors and runs away. EDITOR’S NOTE: sound is not sound at time of image capture due to the use of slow-motion filming.

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BLOG POST Columbian sharp-tailed grouse dance to impress
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Columbian sharp-tailed grouse dance to impress

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Two male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse faceoff each other on a lek in southern Wyoming.
Two Columbian sharp-tailed grouse dance on a lek in southern Wyoming.

I HAVE MADE occasional trips to photograph Columbian sharp-tailed grouse on a lek in southern Wyoming for almost a decade. The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) is one of the seven recognized subspecies of North American sharp-tailed grouse. It is also the rarest and smallest of the subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse have experienced declines in distribution and population due to overuse and development of the mountain shrub and grasslands that it favors. It is native to the sagebrush steppe of the western United States and British Columbia. First described by the Lewis & Clark expedition, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse were once the most abundant grouse in the West. Today, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse no occupy less than 10 percent of its historic range. It is currently considered a Species of Concern in several U.S. states

Male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse perform their mating dance on a lek during the pre-dawn in southern Wyoming.

Like other grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse congregate year after year in the spring on a small area known as a lek. Males perform highly animated dancing courtship displays to impress females to mate. These displays consist of rapidly stomping their feet at blur-like speed while keeping with their wings extended, often rotating in a circle. It always makes me smile when they synchronize their dance with each other, turning and freezing in position simultaneously as their neighbor. I also always enjoy hearing them approach in the pre-dawn darkness as they approach the lek. Their weird hooting, cackling, gobbling sounds, and loud foot-stomping are memorable.

Photographing these fast and erratic moving grouse is always a challenge. The birds dart across the lek at high speed, with males stopping suddenly to perform their mating dance. Trying to shoot video is even a more significant challenge. I joke with my shooting buddy Noppadol Paothong that photographing sharp-tail grouse is the ultimate test of camera technology and a photographer’s skill.

Two male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse faceoff each other on a lek in southern Wyoming.
Columbian sharp-tailed grouse males will stare each other down as they try to protect their personal space position on the lek.
Two male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse fight on a lek in southern Wyoming.
Two male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse fight on a lek in southern Wyoming.
The birds seriously fight each other, pulling at each other’s feathers or using their sharp talons.
A male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is chased by other males on a lek in southern Wyoming.
A male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse takes flight from a lek in southern Wyoming.
Ultimately, the staredown results in a fight with one of the males being chased from the space on the lek.
A male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse performs a mating dance on a lek in southern Wyoming.
Males try to impress females with their crazy foot-stomping dance, rapidly stamping their feet at blur-like speed while keeping their wings extended, often rotating in a circle.
A female Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is chased by a male on a lek in southern Wyoming. The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) is one of the seven recognized subspecies of North American sharp-tailed grouse. It is also the rarest and smallest of the subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse have experienced declines in distribution and population due to overuse and development of the mountain shrub and grasslands that it favors. It is native to the sagebrush steppe of the western United States and British Columbia. First described by the Lewis & Clark expedition, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse were once the most abundant grouse in the West. Today, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse no occupy less than 10 percent of its historic range. It is currently considered a Species of Concern in several U.S. states. Like other grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse congregate year after year in the spring on a small area known as a lek. Males perform highly animated dancing courtship displays to impress females to mate. These displays consist of rapidly stamping their feet at blur-like speed while keeping with their wings extended, often rotating in a circle.
Females are picky on their choice of male to mate with. Males will chase a female back and forth across the lek in an attempt to mate. Here, a female makes her escape from a male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.
A male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse struts across a lek in southern Wyoming.
This photo shows a male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse with its distinctive orange comb and the purple air sacks that they inflate to amplify the courtship call and display their health. Also, note on the down-like feet the fleshy projections on their toes called pectinae. These help distribute the bird’s weight when walking on snow as snowshoes do.
A male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse performs a mating dance on a lek in southern Wyoming.
This photo is a favorite from my most recent visit. I like the “tiger-like” stripes on the bird’s body caused by the shadow of its extended mating dance wing position.
A male Columbian sharp-tailed grouse rests on a lek in southern Wyoming.
A male takes a break from protecting his position and trying to impress the females with his dancing on the lek.
VIDEO Sights and sounds from a Columbian sharp-tailed grouse lek in southern Wyoming
PHOTO GALLERY of all my Columbian Sharp-tailed grouse photos

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Warm beach or -27°F? 

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I know our friends think Carol and I are a bit crazy. Our recent “Spring vacation” supports their case. While everyone we knew was heading to the beach to soak up the sun and dip their toes in the ocean and warm sand, we headed to the frigid mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park where temperatures were forecast with HIGHS of -7°F and windchills of -15°F (a different weather app was predicting a -27°F windchill). 

Sucker weather

The trip west from Missouri started out with a 70°F day in Hays, Kansas, where we overnighted. It felt like a beautiful warm Spring day.

Sunrise in Hays, Kansas

It continued to be nice when we pulled into Estes Park, Colorado, the base for our forays into Rocky Mountain National Park next door. One of the workers where we were staying was doing his job in shorts. But temperatures quickly dropped to below zero that evening, with over a foot of new snow later that night. 

Where is everyone?

All of our snowshoeing took place from the Bear Lake area. We were amazed how we were the only people at the lake on our first day. What makes this so unusual is that thousands of visitors can be at the lake area during the summer. Frankly, it’s not particularly pleasant with crowds and traffic. It gets so packed with cars that they limit the vehicles driving up to the lake. The parking lot at Bear Lake is routinely filled up by 9:00 a.m. Anyone arriving after that has to park their car down the mountain and take a shuttle bus to the lake. We didn’t have to worry about any of that, however. It was just us, the snow, and the occasional gust of wind. We even picnicked on a bench, though I must say that our frozen peanut butter sandwiches gave new meaning to “crunchy” peanut butter.

If you are cold, you probably don’t have the right gear

Being equipped with the right gear makes a big difference when wind chill temperatures are below zero (sometimes double digits below on our trip). Multiple clothing layers topped by a thick down coat kept us toasty. Because of the windchill, a baklava was a must on the face, along with mittens (with liners) instead of gloves. Because we were often breaking trail, serious snowshoes were very helpful, particularly in the new powder snow. Carol put good use to the new ones she received for Christmas.

Wildlife spotting

The wildlife we saw on the trip was pretty typical of what you see at Rocky Mountain National Park. Easily spotted from the road, we saw mule deer (on the road to Bear Lake) and elk (at Sheep Lakes) feeding on vegetation and even a huge moose (on the way to Paradise Valley) lumbering up a road. While I didn’t get a photo of her (she quickly left the road into the willows), we got a disgusted look from her indicating she couldn’t believe that we had the audacity to be driving on her road.

2/22/22 @2:22 p.m.

National parks are becoming more popular for destination weddings. We ran into two weddings during our drives in the park. One occurred on February 22, 2022, at 2:22 p.m. We arrived upon the scene just after the wedding to see the couple pose for wedding photos. With temperatures likely in the teens, we don’t know how the couple, particularly the bride, could bear the cold. I guess love conquers all.

Up we go

For one of our snowshoe hikes, we decided to snowshoe up to a lake we have previously visited in the winter (Nymph Lake) and then push even further up the mountain to a lake that we have only seen during the summer (Dream Lake). Once again, we had the place to ourselves. At the first lake, we had a picnic lunch (again with “crunchy” peanut butter sandwiches). Because we had been to this lake before, we knew where a bench was to be found under a couple of feet of snow. After digging out the bench, we had a perfect picnic spot. What made the spot fun was that the last time we were here in 2018, two Steller Jays, tried to con us out of some of our lunch. Once we sat down, two Steller Jays again zeroed in on us and streaked across the lake to sit right above us in the tree to look for handouts.

Summer vs winter hiking

What made the trip interesting (besides the beautiful scenery) was that unlike the summer when you want to stay on the trail due to the potential to do damage, in the winter, with all the snow, you can go anywhere you want as long as you stay out of avalanche zones. So for our trip to the second, higher lake, we ditched the regular summer trail (which we couldn’t see anyway) and instead did the winter route indicated on the map we had. Using a GPS made this easy to keep on the route. 

For those of you concerned about our safety, my GPS also has satellite texting capabilities along with an SOS button that you only press in matters of imminent death. Pressing it brings out Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmers on the ocean or rescue teams from federal and local authorities if you are on land. In other words, you don’t unlock and press the big SOS button if you are whining, looking for an easy way home.

The effort to reach the second lake was worth it, but we couldn’t stay long as the snow began to get heavy, which would make it difficult to see the tracks we made on the way to the lake.

Yup, we got snow

We received messages from friends back in Missouri about the threat of several inches of snow during our trip. I so wanted to send this photo of Carol standing next to the side of the road to Bear Lake. The weather monitoring station at Bear Lake recorded 50” of snow on the ground. But even more impressive were where snowplows cut through snowdrifts on the side of the road to Bear Lake. This made the snow the 50” of snow at Bear Lake look like nothing.

Nothing to see here, folks

Our final snowshoe hike was to Alberta Falls. By now, word must have gotten out that the snowshoeing and hiking were good, as many more people were now on the trail. We had several choices for our final hike, but after researching winter images of Alberta Falls on Google, we thought that would be worthy of checking out. Most of the way to the falls was downhill, and we were a little worried that it was going to be quite the slog heading back to Bear Lake, but as it turns out, it wasn’t all that bad. However, when we finally reached the falls, they looked nothing like the photos of the frozen falls I saw on online. The issue was that all the snow buried the frozen falls. So much so that it wasn’t until we got back to the car that I realized that I hadn’t even bothered to get the camera out to shoot photos of the falls. The hike wasn’t a bust, though, as the golden canyon before the falls was beautiful and made for a good spot a photo of the two of us taken by a kind cross country skier.

Final views

On our last day, the sky above Bear Lake was clear, affording a beautiful view of Hallett Peak. We then descended the mountain for the last time, passing through the Moraine Park area of Rocky Mountain National Park. There we were afforded panoramic views of the park and some of the park’s historic cabins blanketed in snow.

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After a million visiting birds, quiet time at Loess Bluffs

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A juvenile bald eagle feeds on the remains of waterfowl in the Pelican Pool at the Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
A juvenile bald eagle feeds on the remains of waterfowl in the Pelican Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR.

A few weeks ago, I made a scouting trip to the Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri near the Nebraska/Iowa/Missouri border. I use the word “scouting” trip as I knew I was traveling there long after the big migration of waterfowl (and the accompanying bald eagles) had passed through. Still, I wanted to make the trip because I have wanted to check the area out for over a decade so I knew what to expect when I would return during the height of the massive migration of millions, yes millions of birds.

Sunset over the Cattail Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
Sunset over the Cattail Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR.
Snow and ice on the Snow Goose Pool Complex at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
Snow and ice on the Snow Goose Pool Complex.
Sunset over the Cattail Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
Sunset over the Cattail Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek).

I found the refuge (formally known as Squaw Creek) largely deserted, not only of people but of waterfowl. Outside of a few waterfowl stragglers, a few bald eagles (likely resident), and a coyote or two. Of the 7,440 acres of the frozen landscape, I found only one small pool of water that wasn’t frozen over. It was quite a distance, and any attempt of trying to get closer to the waterfowl would have caused them to take flight and expend their much-needed energy. As the saying goes, if all you have are lemons, you make lemonade, which is what I did. The results are nothing to shout about, but it allowed me to get a feel for the possibilities for future trips to the refuge.

I look forward to returning.

A juvenile bald eagle swoops down on trumpeter swans and other waterfowl in the Snow Goose Pond Complex at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
A juvenile bald eagle swoops down on trumpeter swans and other waterfowl in the Snow Goose Pond Complex.
An injured coyote makes his way across the frozen and snow covered pond of the Snow Goose Complex at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
An injured coyote makes his way across the frozen and snow covered pond of the Snow Goose Complex at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
An injured coyote makes his way across the frozen and snow covered pond of the Snow Goose Complex.
A bald eagle awaits sunrise as the moon sets at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
A bald eagle awaits sunrise as the moon sets.

Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of snow geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes is a great way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.

VIEWER’S TIP: Eagles are less likely to fly away if you view from inside your car. Your car is a great “mobile” blind.
A pair of bald eagles perched in a tree overlooking the Cattail Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR (formerly known as Squaw Creek). Loess Bluffs is a wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 700-acre refuge, located in northwest Missouri is known for the migrating waterfowl, particularly Snow Geese. Fall and Spring migration can bring millions of Snow Geese to the refuge. Also, bald eagles and an occasional golden eagle pass through the area during the fall and winter months. The 10-mile auto tour around the waterways and marshes of the refuge is an excellent way to spot birds of prey, waterfowl, beavers, otters, and muskrats.
A pair of bald eagles perched in a tree overlooking the Cattail Pool at Loess Bluffs NWR as the moon sets on a chilly January morning.
VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of all my Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge photos

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