The Big Chicken Run is one of many nicknames for a “journey in search of as many members of prairie-dwelling grouse as can realistically be fitted into a single trip.” Otherwise known as the Grouse Grand Slam, the trip Scott Surner, President of the Hampshire Bird Club, will be describing generally takes about ten days, much of it spent quartering the windswept prairies in Colorado and Kansas for Greater and Lesser Prairie Chickens, Greater and Gunnison’s Sage Grouse, and Sharp-tailed Grouse. These are all lekking species, meaning that males display in mysteriously well-defined areas, where their (often bizarre) displays are perused by visiting females. The trips involve grueling travel itineraries and a lot of huddling in blinds near the leks in the predawn. A trip to make (or break) friendships. Scott Surner is a founding member of the Hampshire Bird Club and has had more terms as president than the Bush and Clinton families combined, (though the math may need to be re-checked in 2016.) He has led wonderful trips both locally and across the country for HBC and is the current teacher of the annual Hitchcock Birding Class, which brings many new people to birding every year. The talk takes place Wednesday, April 8, beginning at 7 pm at the Athol Bird and Nature Club, Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street in Athol. Photo by B.E. Goodwin.