It always seems to creep up on you.

For weeks, you've been counting sage grouse cocks out on their strutting grounds.

And occassionally, you might spot a hen or two. But there aren't many of them out there yet, and they are so well camouflaged,

that usually you don't see them unless they move, or they're standing out in the open.

And then one morning, 'poof', there they all are. Hens poppin' up everywhere.

This year in the desert, that happened on 31 March. And again on 1 April.

Females all over the place, just wanderin' around, checking out the action. Deciding if there is any one male there who adequately impresses them. Which all the cocks are trying to do, some almost frantically, turning this way and that, showing off their stuff.

Researchers and behavioralists have found the hens are apparently most interested in the frequency of a male's strut.

How often does he do it, and how long can he keep it up.

The faster and the longer, the better.

Presumably a measure of fitness, rather than satisfaction, since once she makes her choice, the actual act doesn't last more than a few seconds.

And as they take care of their business, or decide they are as of yet unimpressed, the hens begin to leave. Usually in pods, wandering off into the sage together, sometimes just a few, sometimes dozens at once.

Others fly off. Sometimes in groups, but often alone.

Most cocks remain on their posts, displaying in their individual territories well after the girls are gone

while a few, usually the younger ones, follow the hens off a ways, strutting in vain in a last ditch attempt to impress.

Until finally the girls are gone, and he has nothing to do but stand there, with his tail fanned, watching the day begin.