My dad and I woke up around 3:15 AM to drive to Prairie Ridge to see the Greater Prairie-Chickens from a blind, and it was so worth it! On the drive there, I saw so many stars that I never see at home in Chicago, and we think we saw a fox! It was still really dark when we got there, and on the walk to the lek with the rest of the group too. Once the group split and went into the blinds around 5:30 AM, it was still quiet... until a Killdeer just started screaming from outside. It sounded like it walked up to the blind and was telling us "I know you're in there!" After it was done being loud, we heard Wilson's Snipe winnowing overhead! It's a spooky sound, and once the Prairie-Chicken males arrived on the lek and started "booming", it just got creepier! The "booming" of the male Prairie-Chickens doesn't quite sound like a boom, more like a deep woosh of wind, or distant thunder. The males just got louder once the females got there. We think there were 5 females on the lek, which is on the higher end of average for there. Once all of the females left, the males got quieter, but started facing off against each other. They crouched at the edges of their territories, calling, and sometimes attacking each other, and then just walking away. Occasionally Northern Harriers would swoop at them, flushing them, but they would quickly come back. Around 8:00AM all but one of the Prairie-Chickens flew away, right on time for us to walk back. Thank you so much Bob, for letting me join the group!
--Written by Ima
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| Greater Prairie-Chickens |
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