Our trip to New Mexico, April 14-21, coincided with the peak of lek activity for Lesser Prairie-Chicken, so we decided to try to find them in eastern NM. The popular mythology regarding observing their so-called "booming" goes that one must be present at the lek at least an hour before sunrise when they gather there and display until it becomes light; not being morning people and not putting much stock in birding mythology anyway, we consulted with the family authority, my brother Jim in Tulsa, OK. His experience with Greater Prairie-Chicken indicates that lek activity is also high at sunset and that, in fact, on a cloudy day they may do their thing all day long. So we set up a plan that involved a sunset assault with the following morning held in reserve in case it was needed. Jean contacted the Roswell, NM, BLM office that manages the "Mescalero Sands" area where the chickens are and their biologist was very helpful. He sent a package to us in care of Jean's father and it was waiting for us when we got to Carlsbad on Thursday even though it was mailed after 3:30 PM the previous day. The package had all kinds of information about Lesser Prairie-Chickens, about the sandhill area, about not trying to drive in the sand and had maps of the various leks and how to get to them. On Sunday, April 17, we drove up to Roswell, about 70 miles north of Carlsbad, and drove 40+ miles east of there on US 380 in the late afternoon to hunt for the leks. At the very elaborate (for NM) Waldrop Park rest area, we turned north on a "caliche" surfaced road, a dirt road surfaced with crushed limestone that in some places was rutted down to the sand and felt like driving in deep snow, and drove a few miles to one of the supposedly active leks. This lek was an old drill pad, a round, flat area in the sandhills that was surfaced with caliche to allow drill equipment and vehicles to operate without bogging down in the sand. At about 6:30, two chickens walked out onto the pad, marched to opposite ends and began to display and dance and make various strange noises (there is no boom in anything we heard). Between displays, both would assume a very upright posture and look about for other males to contend with or females; neither appeared. After about 10 minutes of this, one got totally bored and marched off into the sandhills, calling half heartedly in response to vocalizations from the one that remained on the pad. We were somewhat disappointed, although we had seen the whole show from very close range, so we decided to move to another lek a few miles away. On the way there, we had a very good look at one drinking from a stock tank and flushed two more that were walking near the road. When we arrived at the second lek we found two displaying males present. As we watched them, more arrived, walking in singly or flying in in small groups until finally there were 14 Lesser Prairie-Chickens present. The show they put on was fascinating; they paired off for the most part and each pair engaged in mock battles (we never saw one strike the other, just a lot of bluffing) until both just settled down on the ground, nose to nose, as though exhausted from it all. I doubt that we ever saw a female; at this point many of them must be nesting already. Finally we noticed that it was getting dark and wanted to leave while we could still see the road; our maneuvers to turn around on the pad and head out had little effect on the chickens. And we slept late the next morning.
(Dick developed this himself; Jean provided some solicited
advice)
Please address comments to: Dick
and Jean Hoffman at djhoff@ix.netcom.com
URL://www.oocities.org/yosemite/4413/nm-lepc.html
Changes last made on: Wed, Oct 23, 1996
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