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U.S.A. -- NEVADA: Tonopah - Sage Grouse location
by George West
There was no activity at the lek areas reported in the 1995 “Winging
It” article, but there were birds in another nearby location.
Here are the directions:
From Tonopah, take Route 6 east 5 miles to Highway 376, turn left and
drive north about 13 miles. Look for a paved road on the right to
Belmont. It is 28.2 miles from the junction of Highway 376 and
the Belmont road to Belmont. Drive straight through the tiny
hamlet of Belmont and follow the paved road around the corner to the
southeast where it turns to gravel. From this point, drive 10.0
miles. The road swings around and heads north up the
valley. At 10 miles, look for a short-grass clearing on the right
(east) amongst the miles of sage brush. This is where we found
the "booming" Sage Grouse. We only saw 14 males and 4 females at
0615. We drove further up the road to the spot described in
Winging it (12.3 miles past Belmont on the same road, then turn left on
a narrow dirt tract for 2.3 miles, look for a water trough on the
left). Here we found many cows but no grouse. When we
returned to the lek at 10 mile, there were only 6 birds left at 0655.
Apparently it is important to be at the lek site at daybreak as the
birds retreat into the brush shortly after sunrise. We were a
little late, but it was overcast which might have delayed the birds
departure a bit. We stayed at an RV park in Tonopah; there are no
facilities (and hardly any people that we could find) in Belmont.
George West
kbaybird@aol.com
Green Valley AZ and Homer, AK