Every once
in awhile, life affords you the opportunity to witness a truly unique
experience. With this in mind, we signed up for The Grouse Grand
Slam offered by Bill Drummond which began in Colorado Springs in April
of 2007. The objective of this trip is to
witness grouse and prairie chicken display on their Leks. This
fast paced trip brought us across almost 2,000 miles of roadways
through the states Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma in order to view a
variety of birds and wildlife throughout this region.
So what exactly does a Grouse Display on a lek look like? Double
click on the photo below to view a MS wmv file to see a small
glimpse.............
For
quite some time now, we have been told of the wonderful migration
pattern that occurs in the midwest through Crane Creek and Point Pelee
in the Spring. As it turns out in May of 2007 the timing was
right and
we were able to be in this section of the States during this time.
Quite a tough decision to leave our Massachusetts home during the May
migration period. It was here that Diana was provided
her life looks at the Sora and Paul the Cape May Warbler - our two
target species for the trip.
Again as in years past we have been able to maintain our traditional long weekend trips throughout May, June and July - Oceanedge on Cape Cod, Twin Lakes Village in NH and Rangely Lakes in ME .
As Thanksgiving week arrived; we traveled to Las Vegas for a
combination of wildlife viewing within the park systems by day and
people viewing in the grand casinos by night. Even with Paul hampered
by a bad back, we were still able to hit a fair number of parks within
the Las Vegas region - Sunset Park, Corn Creek, Red Rock Canyon, Mount
Charleston, and the Henderson Viewing Ponds. Nighttime brought us
seats to Mama Mia at New York New York, Cirque du Soleil Zumanity at
Mandalay Bay, and a Variety Show at Planet Hollywood as well as taking
in the likes of The Venetian, Caesar's Palace, and the Belaggio to name
a few.
The highlight of the trip had to be
as dusk approached in Corn Creek - a flock of Red Crossbills perched in
a tree no more than 20 feet away at eye level. We proceeded to observe
and photograph them as they descended to the ground to sip from the
creek before us. A far bit better than our northern sitings which
are usually a fly over or at the top of tall pines.
With Paul starting a new job at the
Museum of Science in December, our annual Xmas to New Year's excursion
will need to be put on hold for a few years as Xmas week is among the
busiest at the MOS. So for 2008 our hopes will remain the same
Tigers in India? Penguins in Antarctica? The options
are limitless, alas the $$ and vacation time are not.....
Home Colorado 2007 Crane Creek/Point Pelee 2007 Las Vegas Photos