After visiting the Gunnison Sage-Grouse lek in the early morning of 10April2013, David Ely, Davis Noble, and myself visited a feeder just west of SR135 about 4 miles north of Gunnison (Gunnison) on Evelyn Lane (actual address 110, which is basically at the intersection of Evelyn and Debbie Way). As you head west on Evelyn, it is the first house you come to with feeders on the left (south side of the road), and is maybe 1 tenth of a mile off 135. At this feeder we had 11 Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, 1 Black Rosy-Finch, a few Cassin's Finches, and one "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow.
A word about the Waunita Springs (887 Road) grouse lek: apparently the birds are not lingering on the lek nearly as long as they used to. We saw 13 birds on the morning of the 10th. Be sure to follow the rules and get there in the dark 1 hour before official sunrise (sunrise tomorrow is 6:45am MST) and be prepared. They start dancing in the dark and about as soon as it gets light enough to see them at a distance of a couple hundred yards, they could fly off for the rest of the day. On the overcast morning we were there, we had about 15-30 minutes of viewing before it was all over. Photography opportunities are all but nil due to distance and low light. Personally, I would try to get a window-mounted scope view and forget about taking pictures.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
A word about the Waunita Springs (887 Road) grouse lek: apparently the birds are not lingering on the lek nearly as long as they used to. We saw 13 birds on the morning of the 10th. Be sure to follow the rules and get there in the dark 1 hour before official sunrise (sunrise tomorrow is 6:45am MST) and be prepared. They start dancing in the dark and about as soon as it gets light enough to see them at a distance of a couple hundred yards, they could fly off for the rest of the day. On the overcast morning we were there, we had about 15-30 minutes of viewing before it was all over. Photography opportunities are all but nil due to distance and low light. Personally, I would try to get a window-mounted scope view and forget about taking pictures.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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