Category Archives: Namekagon Wildlife Area
Grouse Attitude
Friends, this Sharptail grouse is showing a little belligerent attitude, he is really calling gobble-check, gobble check, gobble check, as he cruises the lek trolling for a female, all puffed up with himself, his feet stutter on the ground as he dances the spring away. til Tomorrow MJ
Grouse Attack
Friends, sometimes the dancing of the Sharptail Grouse winds up in a confrontation, these two have come together head to head. After bluffing by jumpin at each other, one grouse launches into the air and comes down in an attack on the grouse who stays on the ground. never seen any bloodshed, but they sometimes shake themselves and turn away. I know it is blurred, but that was done intentionally to show the action, til Tomorrow MJ
Dancing Dancing Dancing
Friends, these birds are male Sharptail Grouse in Namekagon Barrens, thanks to the people who put up the blinds and this year they did a magnificent job. Some of the birds danced so close to the blind that one was lucky to have a telephoto zoom lens that you could back off to include the bird. You photographers know what i am talking about, too much glass sometimes. A great place to start a fledging wildlife photographer. til Tomorrow MJ
Dancing of the Grouse
Friends, a ballet dancer, nope, a male sharptail grouse on the attack. The image below shows the more typical dance position, but when two males come head to head, there is a lot of bluffing, then one or both birds may rise up and try to spur the other bird. When the female appeared on the grounds, there was only horizontal dancing and no more spurring.. til Tomorrow MJ
Sharptails
Friends, tomorrow morning we are going grouse hunting, with our cameras of course, this image was taken last year in the Namekagon Barrens of Northwestern Wisconsin. He is moving but that is the best i was able to get, but this year is another chance to fix the problems and come up with a winning image, it is spring, time to get to work til Tomorrow MJ
Waiting for Spring
Friends, this image says winter and waiting for it to be over, the return of the bird to its house would definitely say spring, but first we have to melt these gigantic drifts. This was found in the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area, a vast wilderness that only contains snowmobilers and rugged photographers in the winter. Good thing we have four=wheel drive on the pickup, almost got stuck on a trail that had not been plowed very well, so if you go, watch the width of the road, if it narrows too much it has probably turned into a trail, not a road. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:The Golden Hour
Friends, the sharptail grouse dance during the golden hour before dawn until after dawn, then they fly off with a female and do what grouse do. Til then they dance, jump and talk about it and often have an attitude. This image is from Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area and was taken early in the spring. I always freeze my fingers onto the shutter button, talk about cold, brrrrr something to think about now that the temperatures are in the 80-90 range. til Tomorrow MJ
Beaver on the Sand
Friends, this beaver was found strolling down a sand road in the sand barrens, what an aquatic animal like him was doing on the sand was not known, but he is wet so he must have water around somewhere, he was sampling the air every so often, maybe he could smell water, hope he finds his home, til Tomorrow MJ
Jumping for Joy
Friends, this dancing male sharptail grouse is jumping into the air to celebrate the arrival of spring, the weather is starting to warm up and thoughts turn to love, in this case grouse love, showing off for the girls, the males dance around the lek and occasionally at the end of the dance, they fly into the air, such a sight,yes the wings are blurred to emphasize the action we are in the badlands fighting with the wind til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Patterns
Friends, the feather patterns of the sharp tail grouse are stunning when you can see them up close and personal. Most are white triangles edged in brown, and serves as great camouflage against the brown brush of spring. If the birds are not dancing and just sitting still, they can be very hard to spot especially in the light before dawn. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 