Next morning, back to day 1 site; again, a stag party. A large raptor crashed the party just about the time they announced last call. Didn't get a real good look, but from 1200 yards I don't think it was an eagle; the grouse didn't panic-flush like I've seen when goldens are in the vicinity, so it may have just been a noisy red-tail.

Lots of fresh sign on this lek. The tar-like stuff on top of the scat is cecal matter (the grouse processes part of their sage leaf diet separately)






Side trip to the head of the pond



to see how this year's rainbow crop is doing; lots of active redds, lots of mosquitos






Rotated between 2 very active sites for the last 3 days; again, lots of males but no hens. Perhaps I've discovered a flock of hermaphrodites.



Don't have much of a zoom on the camera, and this lek's about a mile away on private property, so no chance to get closer. Tried some shots through the scope and got a few passable ones; the white dots are the breasts of the males, pretty easy to spot even in low light conditions