Wyoming - Day 1 - Sage and Sharptail Grouse

SHOW NOTES

Podcast start, Mark talks about his excitement of being in Wyoming and all the wildlife they have seen on their first day there.

3:26 Ron talks about the whitetail deer and pronghorn antelope population in Wyoming. Mark makes a confession, despite his background and 25 years in the wildlife photography; it was his first time seeing a pronghorn.

11:30 Mark talks about the primary interest of the trip being photographing sage grouse leks and the likelihood of them being able to capture images of the birds in the snow.

17:57 With population concerns of the sage grouse, Ron talks about the importance of allowing the birds to get use to them and observing wildlife correctly. Also to sacrifice the shot if it was to obstruct the breeding process.

23:53 Ron describes their plan and how they will move to the area that they will be photographing from, and to move in single file trying to look like a cow, or moose as Mark would prefer. 

29:10 Michael talks about showing pictures in the podcast of the various grouse they are hoping to photograph. Images by Ron Hayes.

30:09 Mark is surprised to hear Ron call him soft. Teasing aside, the group discusses a hack to being comfortable in the field.

36:06 Ron shares what they can expect to see from the birds as far as grouping and behavior.

43:42 Ron discusses the importance of sharing information about the lecks with biologist and game wardens, such as number of birds on a lek and rare behavior.

44:29 Ron shares an image of a crossbreed between a sage grouse and a sharptail grouse.

56:27 Michael asks Ron which birds are best to photograph using a blind.

1:08:20 Wrapping up podcast with Mark, Ron and Michael sharing their instagram handles.