White-tailed Ptarmigan in the sun

On 22 November 2016, I was finally able to remove the White-tailed Ptarmigan from the top of my mental Wish List! Over the last few years, I have been with a friend maybe four or five times to look for these in the mountains, without any luck. I had told friends that this year, if I didn't see one of these grouse, I would build a snowbird and photograph it.

It was just so exciting to see 15 of these beautiful birds that day with friends, Dorothy and Stephen. We would definitely never have found them without help from several friends. As you can imagine, spotting a white bird against a snowy background from a great distance is pretty well impossible, especially if they are in the shade - this photo was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm with my point-and-shoot. A bit more grainy than I would have liked, but I am still so happy to have seen these birds and get any kind of photos. As photographers know, shooting white on white is never easy.

These birds tend to walk around in just a small area for a while, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process and then rest again. As you can imagine, a turn of the head so that a bird is looking away from you, all that remains is something that looks like one of the many lumps of snow everywhere.

This photo was taken on the first recent trip to look for them. I was so very fortunate to go out with different friends on two more days, on 23 and 29 November 2016, and lucky enough to see these birds both times. I didn't have to trudge through very deep snow on this and the second trip, but was up to my knees in the white stuff for part of the third visit.

"The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id

"The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan