Observations From the South End
Posted by Myra Blau in Observation from the South End Thursday, 29 April 2010 10:48
I was driving into work the other morning about 7:30 am and I noticed a bird in the road up ahead. I normally don’t slow down for birds unless they are fairly large ones like an eagle or a buzzard. I figure they have wings and much greater maneuverability than I have so I feel it’s up to them to get out of my way not the other way around.
As I got closer I realized it was a pair of sage grouse participating in their courtship ritual. [I recognized it from a wildlife documentary.] The rooster was performing his fan dance right there in the middle of the road while the object of his affections was sitting at the very edge of the pavement in rapt attention.
I breezed through them at about 50 miles per hour and neither one of them flinched or flew. I doubt they even noticed I had gone by.
Hmmmmm…. I think I may have just figured out why they are almost on the endangered species list.