Greater Prairie Chicken in Habitat

[Mike Fuhr]

I finally had a chance to take some shots of greater prairie chickens on a lek in northern Oklahoma. You have to set up before light near the lek, although a vehicle works fairly well for a blind. The spot I chose this date was not ideal (I know this now) so I plan to go back to get a better position a bit closer to the action.

This habitat shot is one of my favorites. I caught this male in between showdowns with other males that were practicing showing off for the females. Many leks are in areas with a lot of dense prairie vegetation, but this spot was burned last fall so it was a bit more open, relatively speaking. I like the remaining stalks of forbes that the bird is wandering through as he looks for other males. The dark zone in the background is an area several thousand acres in size that was burned just days before.

Nikon D300
100-300 F/4 w 1.4x
F5.6
1/800
ISO 400
Hand held

[denise ippolito]

Mike, I like the scenic look to this. The soft color tones are nice. I might try to blend the dark band in the BG just a little since it grabs your eye. Nice placement of your subject and I like the inclusion of the habitat.