Sage Grouse Display

Gallery: AvianPosted August 9, 2013241 views10 comments

Sage Grouse perform this puffed chest display in groups called a mating lek, usually in a set location to which they return annually. It is strange to see these males strut in a group while making a clucking noise. Taken at about 6000ft on a snowy day in May at Malheur,OR on a trip with Nate Chappell & Ken Archer.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on August 9, 2013 at 8:50 PM

A beautiful and unusual bird. The composition is good. The background is nicely blurred. On the con side, the head is fairly soft and there is substantial noise, both in the background and on the birds chest.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by John Jeevaratnam on August 9, 2013 at 9:26 PM

oooh nice shot, like the composition and colour. If you have Adobe bridge and you shot the photo in RAW, you perhaps can tweak the luminance to lower the noise at a closer glance.

Registered on July 29, 2013, 112 Posts, 229 Comments

Comment posted by Lorna Taylor on August 9, 2013 at 11:14 PM

This little fellow seems full of himself !! Beautiful use of DOF and comp.

Registered on November 12, 2010, 254 Posts, 3083 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on August 10, 2013 at 3:02 AM

Roger,
Without knowing the technical details it is difficult to comment. I agree with Phil regarding the noise is this a large crop?

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on August 10, 2013 at 6:43 PM

Roger,
It is a very nice catch. The puffed out chest caused me to question whether he was a banker.

I agree with the others regarding the noise and resolution.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on August 11, 2013 at 10:33 AM

Thanks, people. Noise doesn't bother me as most of the time I can deal with it, but PLEASE go on pointing it out when you see it. My tendency it to shoot at high speed & high ISO in Nature as for me sharpness is much harder to rectify than noise - doesn't mean that I can always spot noise in my image.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 11, 2013 at 11:23 AM

Great display pose, Roger. The image appears very noisy for some reason. Were you shooting at very high iso settings?

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on August 11, 2013 at 11:07 PM

Sweet capture of this handsome grouse in mid-performance Roger. The light was wonderful that afternoon.

Surprisingly a few birds were back this spring, the lek had a whole new look after the wild fire that went through the area last summer.

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on August 11, 2013 at 11:09 PM

awesome catch , sorry for long range shoot, thank you for sharing

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on August 14, 2013 at 3:14 AM

Great setting and detail Roger. Any more room below to include the feet?

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments