Greater Prairie Chicken .

I remember the first (I know, a lot of firsts) time (only time) This homage is to the Greater Prairie Chicken (GPC) in North Dakota. We had driven out to the country to a location known to local birdwatchers for GPCs. The area is a grassland and of wide expanse. We were pretty lucky, we thought, that there wasn’t anyone else around for what seemed miles in every direction. We saw some brownish bumps in the distance and thought they were our best chance for a good watch. 

Loaded up with our binoculars, we crept as far toward the bumps as we could. GPCs are very shy and hyper-prone to skittishness. With the binoculars we could see some of the GPCs dance and the males display with their bright breeding neck sacks. It was spectacular, and yet, difficult to see since we were at still quite a distance with the sun-going down. 

We could hear off in the distance what sounded like loud rock music. We were shocked that we couldn’t see anyone else around, but someone was playing bass guitar loudly.

Occam’s razor to the rescue. We were such newbies to the area. Quickly we realized what we thought was a loud radio, was in fact the drumming and dancing of the GPCs! It was one of the coolest moments in my memory. More about the GPC: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_prairie_chicken

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tympanuchus_cupido_-Illinois,_USA_-male_displaying-8_(1).jpg

This vulnerable, deliriously dancing bird is the inspiration for this acrylic pour:

See it on Redbubble