If you're from Oklahoma you know about these birds. They "dance" "boom" or other wise show off for the hens to win the girls' hearts!
Kind of a blah bird....
OK - maybe a little color here and there...but come spring that all changes
Wow - these birds know how to put on a show!
A few things have changed since I was a kid in the Osage, and one is the prescribed burning which is a regular event. This provides a number of benefits, when they do a purposeful burn, they have a much better chance of controlling the fire, they take away a lot of fuel that may cause devastating fires, and in the spring, these burns mean that fresh new, highly nutritious grass will grow in it's place.
Combining all these, makes burning a must. Last weekend was perfect time as the winds were down, and there was lots of smoke going on...you can see that when you do a prescribed burning, that the fire burns quickly and it burns very light allowing the critters to go underground and survive. As well the roots that run very deep for the tallgrass, takes no time to sprout little green shoots, just the favorite food for the bison on the prairie.
One morning we went out to check the prairie chickens, there was a fire burning in the distance. I've always wanted to get a picture of this, but in my day this was a devastating site. That has now changed, and learning the process of managed fire makes these pictures of just another tool in the ranchers' and preservationists' portfolio for excellent land management.
See our full gallery here, where we had a lot of fun.
