Oh wow! I repeat … Oh wow!!! I had never watched the spring Prairie Chicken courting ritual, and when my buddy Jim reserved a blind at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge and asked me if I would like to make this birding excursion with him, I jumped at the opportunity! This fantastic habitat is essentially due west of Duluth, but during four hours of driving one exits the Boreal Forest of northern Minnesota and reaches the beginning of the Great Plains including Prairie Potholes.

Our blind was almost luxurious. The trailer which encompassed our blind had 8 viewing windows and even rolling padded office chairs. Thus, no matter where the Prairie Chickens decided to dance, the two of us had 360 degree viewing coverage.  The prior afternoon we had checked out the blind in full sunlight. Thus when we arrived in total darkness at 5:00 am, we knew what to expect and where to walk. After a ten minute hike in the dark across the prairie we reached our blind at 5:10 am (sunrise expected at 6:28 am).

You may wonder why we arrived so long before sunup. Well … the Prairie Chickens started arriving by 5:20 … in total darkness and long before the bright orb started peaking above the horizon. If we had arrived much later we would have risked scaring birds. We eventually learned after sunrise the birds were only 25 yards away from the blind, and our blind was perfectly between the birds and the rising sun.

It was eerie to listen to the birds clucking, chirping and booming in the darkness. The males inflate their orange air sacks and make a deep booming sound that could almost be described as someone faintly playing  timpani drums. Turn your computer’s volume up and concentrate on the sound. I took both videos within ten minutes of sunrise.

Prairie Chickens on Hamden Slough near Audubon, Minnesota

The LEK (video link for blog email subscribers)

The Fight (video link for blog email subscribers)

Preamble & Posturing (females in the background … 2nd image)

Fights!!! (trying to spike your opponent)

More Posturing & Stare Downs

And yet … more fights and displays

End of post

For years I have been aware of the Grotto Lake Rookery in the Fergus Falls, Minnesota town park. However the distance from Duluth always made me reject making the long round trip drive (9 hours). However, when my friend Jim suggested reserving a Prairie Chicken blind at the Hamden Slough Wildlife Reserve which is also within easy striking distance of Grotto Lake, I jumped! After a fantastic morning with the Prairie Chickens out on the prairie in the blind which started loooonng before dawn (blog post coming), I suggested we try the Great Egret Rookery in the afternoon. Jim was game, and we made the now much shorted drive to Fergus Falls (now only 2 hours round trip).

Oh my did we strike hit the jackpot! The ice on the pond had only gone out shortly before our visit and the Great Egrets had apparently only just arrived via their Spring migration within the past 24 to 48 hours. The birds were courting like crazy, while at the same time decked out in their finest mating plumage!!! My apologies for the HUGE number of photographs. This was an amazing time with the Great Egrets and I as much am documenting the experiencing for myself. (Audubon, Minnesota and Fergus Falls are essentially due west of Duluth via a four hour drive … from the Boreal Forest to the Great Plains and Prairie Potholes)

The Rookery (on a nest)

You brought me a stick!!!

Take-Off!

On the nest …

Great Egret Mating Displays

A Great Egret Couple Mating

A slight disagreement!

The Joy of Flight (Take-Off)

A small view of the Great Egret Rookery (two nests out of many, many trees)