Sage-grouse lek etiquette

[Mark Stackhouse <westwings at sisna dot com>]

I was at the Henefer sage-grouse lek last Saturday with a couple of clients from Florida. The
viewing was wonderful, and they were thrilled - it was a perfect way to start a great day of
birding. We surely are lucky to have an easily accessible lek which can be viewed at such close
range. This lek has been there for many years, and I hope it will be there for birders to see
for many more years.

However, after watching what happened on Saturday, I fear that this lek may be lost, or move
farther away from the road, unless we all observe some "basic lek-viewing etiquette." On
Saturday, there were many people there - at least 12 carloads. Most of these cars arrived late,
some driving up rather quickly, and the birds closest to the road were flushed, causing what was
essentially one lek straddling the road to split into two. Birds on both sides of the road moved
away from the road. Many birders also got out of their cars, causing even more birds to flush,
and eventually, the whole lek was emptied. In fairness, the hour was getting late, and the birds
may have been ready to leave anyway.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone - I just want to make sure that the sudden popularity of and
publicity about this lek doesn't kill it. We can avoid this by following a few simple
lek-viewing practices:

1) Arrive early - preferably while it's still dark, or at very low light.

2) Drive up slowly, park, and turn off your motor and lights.

3) Stay in your car - this is probably the most important  - until the birds have finished
displaying and left the lek. Even if you need to leave before the display is ended (it's better
to stay in a parked car throughout), don't leave your vehicle, but simply drive off slowly.

4) If you open your windows, keep your voices low, and movements slow.

5) Avoid driving too close to any birds next to the road.

Grouse in the throws of their mating displays often seem oblivious to everything around them,
and it's easy to imagine that what we're doing isn't even noticed. However, perhaps because they
are so pre-occupied, the choice of a safe lek-site is very important, and the birds do notice if
there are things around which make them uneasy. If this disturbance is frequent, then the lek is
likely to be abandoned.

Let's all try to make sure this doesn't happen in Henefer.

Good birding!

Mark

Mark Stackhouse
Westwings, Inc.
1432 Downington Ave.
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
tel./fax. (801) 487-9453
westwings@sisna.com