Ya gotta dance in order to . . . well, you know!

[Debbie K]

HA HA - just checked the weather forecast. Depending on the station, it's ranging from stormy to partly sunny. Guess I'm packing for three different seasons. But it will be much warmer than last year - had snow, sleet and windchill of -5.

[Steve Foss]

Debbie, good luck out there. Sure is a fun time!

I'd also like to put in a plug for the non-profit Minnesota Sharp-tailed Grouse Society. I reserved the blind through them. Thanks Matt! You can find them at http://www.sharptails.org

[Matt Breuer]

Debbie, you'll have a good time! The birds are hot and heavy, as it's dead-on prime time! Since you're going to be in the area anyway, you should swing over to the Long Lake Conservation Center on Sat. for the annual Sharp-tailed Grouse Society Spring Fling!

Steve, not a problem, it's a pleasure having anyone who appreciates nature in our blinds!

Anyone interested in viewing this amazing ritual can go on the HSOforum above and click on "Resources" to find a list of contact info for places that run blinds. Some are on public land, some on private, either way, we ask that NO ONE hunts these leks. Reserving a blind is free, but make sure you call to confirm your spot, as they book up quickly.

This is a cumulative effort, as the Sharp-tailed Grouse Society builds or donates the blinds and often DNR biologists or techs are nice enough to set the blinds and take reservations!

Great images guys, absolutely beautiful!

[Debbie K]

Matt - That's exactly where I'll be this weekend, but for a photo retreat. Saturday, we're going to try and capture the woodcocks. I guess they've been pretty active as well.

[Matt Breuer]

Excellent, maybe I'll see you there, if you're around for the Fling! I'll either be selling tickets, dishing out food, or in a cluster talking about sharpies! It's going to be a great time!

[Debbie K]

Well - hubby and I will be there all weekend. I'll keep an eye out for your group.

[finnbay]

Timberdoodles were super active in the Sax-Zim Bog area this weekend.

[dukhnt]

Amazing shots all around!!! Would love to see that sometime.

[Jim Almquist]

Wow those shots turned out great and the dusting of snow was a great big bonus. Sound like you 2 had a great time.

[buzzsaw]

Here is the Sharp-tailed Grouse lek locations in Tamarack Minnesota.

From I-35:

-take Hwy. 210 west from I-35 to the town of Tamarack.

-take CR 16 south for about 1/4 mile and the grouse are dancing either on the west or east side of CR 16

Also if you take CR 16 south. CR 16 will bend to the west and then bend to the south. At the crook of the road there is a dirt road that heads west. Take the dirt road and drive for nearly 2 miles and there is another lek coming to a farm house on the south side of the road.

Also if you take CR 16 north of Hwy 210 and drive thru Tamarack you will come to Kestrel Rd. Take Kestrel for a mile or so and there is another lek spot on the west side of the road. There is a house with some large spruce trees in front of the house. Look from Kestrel Rd on the south side of the home and the far west side of the home for the grouse.

In Sax-Zim Bog:

There is a lek with about 20 birds along Poplar Rd one mile south of Arkola Rd. You can view the grouse from Poplar Rd by look west. There is a small building that looks like a old out house and the grouse dance either behind the structure or in front of it. This is private property and you need permission to enter the field.

The other lek is along CR 29 about 1 1/2 miles north of CR 133. there is white modular home with horses and a lot of buildings around the home. On the northside of the home is a field that is over grown ( its use to me hayed every summer but its not over grown ) anyway the grouse lek is on the far east side of the field and you will need a spotting scope to view them. The grouse could of moved over to the Dart Rd on the east side of CR 29 as there is some fields over there as well.

There are also some Grouse leks in Moose Lake, MN but I do not have the directions for them but could get them from a birder if anyone needs directions.

There is also a blind for the public in Palo, MN just south of Aurora, MN and you can find the directions by asking the DNR.

There are also blinds for ST Grouse in Crex Meadows, WI and again you can reserve the blind by contacting the Crex Meadows Wildlife Refuge folks.

Leks are no secret but again the McGregor and the Sax Zim Bog leks are on private property but can be viewed from a distance from public roads. Just ask the landowner for permission and I am sure they will not have a problem with people setting up a portable blind to photograph them. IF you do get permission set the blind up in the afternoon not in lek area but just outside of the lek area. ( look for droppings to get a gauge of the lek circle ) then place the blind on the other ring of the lek. Enter the blind an hour before sunrise and wait for the birds to call and begin to dance!

Love the photos I seen so far!

Good info, Mike!

[Steve Foss]

Dan, here's a more substantive answer to your question about the 1D3 white balance in jpeg mode. I was in the middle of about five things happening all at once when you asked the question last night and I couldn't take the time to reply properly.

It's pretty irritating how much the white balance fluctuates on AWB in jpeg mode on that body. While the light on the grouse lek certainly changed character as the sun rose, it was a solid cloudy sky, and the last half of the shoot should have produced images with the same color temp, but it didn't. Had I realized at the time it was an issue, I'd have set it manually.

If I was using CS3 or CS4 it wouldn't be a big deal because those versions of photoshop allow use of the preview screen for jpegs as well as RAW. Since I'm still in CS2, only RAW images can be altered on the preview screen, and with these jpegs I'm left fooling with levels and saturation to try to match them.

I shot jpeg in the first place because CS2 won't read 1D3 RAW files, and while I do have an Adobe DNG converter that will both run on my older computer and convert the RAW to DNG (Adobe's equivalent of camera RAW files), it's another step in the workflow, and since there were over 1,200 images when I got home, the additional download, sort and conversion time would have cost me another full day on my slow machine.

Because I only have the body for a couple more days before it goes back to CPS, and not having any more monster shoots planned, I'll be shooting RAW now.

Anyway, there you have it!

[Northlander]

Beautiful images guys! Very nice stuff!

[Dbl]

Thanks Steve for the explanation, I appreciate the time and information in your response. I was just wondering because of all the things I love about the Mark IIN(and that is most everything) the AWB outdoors in shade and cloudy condition issue drives me crazy! Take that same camera indoors and use AWB in cycling lights and it does a beautiful job The 20D and 30D IMHO did a better job than the Mark II series, the 50D and the way it sounds the Mark III. I've seen some D3 files that seem to also have a slight issue with this as well. Oh and I don't find it super easy to correct the jpegs even in CS4 because there is such a variance in each file. Thanks again for the feedback on the camera, I do appreciate it. And again just wonderful work by both you and Ken.

[Steve Foss]

I can't disagree with any of that, that's for sure.

I shot the Mk2 and Mk2n a lot, as well as spending most of my time with the 20D and 30D, and I think as you do that the xxD series does better on AWB. Why? Who knows?

[Dbl]

I can't disagree with any of that, that's for sure.

I shot the Mk2 and Mk2n a lot, as well as spending most of my time with the 20D and 30D, and I think as you do that the xxD series does better on AWB. Why? Who knows?

Well I hope Canon knows...and they fix it on the Mark IV

[Steve Foss]

Ahhhh, the Mark 4. Such high hopes for so many that Canon will fix a coupla the Mark 3 gaffes . . . . Not that I'm unhappy with the Mk3 results so far.

[Birdsong]

Both of you did a great job! Those are eyebrows that even John L. Lewis would envy.

[Catmendo]

These are as good as it gets gents!!!