Well, we got up at 4 AM this morning, in order to be at the meeting place by 4:30. Since we were to be on an army training base, we had to go through an orientation (how to recognize, and what NOT to do with, unexploded ordinance) and sign a waiver. However, by 5:30, with dawn breaking, we were walking over the bare prairie, heading towards a lek - a dancing ground for sharp tailed grouse.

We started some birds as we came up, but by the time we were settled into our blinds, they were back. These leks are used years after year, with the birds dancing for a few hours every dawn duiring the spring mating season. Today there were about a dozen birds. Only the males dance, the females are just barely tolerated as spectators.

They spread their wings, inflate their throat patches, lower their heads, and stick their tails straight up. Then they vibrate around for a few minutes, looking for all the world like those little wind up toys you entertain your cat with. All of a sudden, they all stop, most of them eye to eye with another male. There is no movement, no sound, sometimes for as long as five minutes. As if on a signal, they all start again.

Closest to our blind, there were a couple of young males. Their throat patches were small, and they couldn't dance as well as the others. At some points, the birds were no more than 6 feet from us.

This went on for about two hours, until the sun was well up. Some then flew away, the rest sat, exhausted. These birds have been coming to this spot to do this dance for maybe hundreds of years. It was a magical morning, watching dawn break over this ancient dancing ground - I wish you could all have been there with us.

http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/birds/sharptail-grouse.htm

Sounds like a wonderful display agony - you're lucky to have seen it.

What a show! I agree that I'd feel lucky to have witnessed something that entertaining.