[Leica] IMG: White-tailed Ptarmigan

[wildlightphoto at earthlink.net (Doug Herr)]

The White-tailed Ptarmigan is an alpine grouse which can be found at the 
highest elevations in western North America.  Like other Ptarmigans, the 
White-tailed Ptarmigan is a master of camouflage, resembling the rocky 
alpine tundra in summer and changing to white in the winter.

I found the Ptarmigans after many years of searching in several western 
states.  In Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, US Highway 34 goes up to 
an elevation of almost 12,000 ft where the Ptarmigans live.  One location in 
particular is a good bet for finding Ptarmigans: Medicine Bow curve, a bend 
in the road where the Medicine Bow mountain range is in full view.  From the 
parking area one must hike a trail that eventually fades away, down a slope 
to an area sheltered from the mountain winds, but not so far that you fall 
over a cliff to the snow fields below.  Once you reach this general area, 
luck is what you need to find the birds.  They might be nearby but you'd 
never know it until you nearly step on it and it walks away.

As luck would have it, after a few hours of searching I found a pair of 
Ptarmigans no more than 20' away as they were feeding on the alpine 
vegetation.  As I watched, both birds completely vanished!  I was certain 
they weren't hidden by terrain, I hadn't seen them fly away, I hadn't 
glanced away even for a moment, but they vanished!  Scanning the area 
carefully I noticed that two of the rocks were more rounded than the others, 
almost as if they were worn down in a stream bed... but this was at nearly 
12,000 ft elevation, the nearest stream was thousands of feet below.  It was 
when one of the rocks got up and resumed feeding that I re-found the birds.

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/phasianidae/wtptar00.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/phasianidae/wtptar01.html

Maneuvering for good lighting (and not falling over the cliff) I heard a 
peeping sound nearby and after a few befuddled minutes looking for the 
source I found a nearly-grown Ptarmigan chick at my feet.

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/phasianidae/wtptar02.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/phasianidae/wtptar03.html

I then began to see more rounded rocks, some merely resting and others that 
had been feeding all along.  I had hit Ptarmigan Jackpot!  There were at 
least 16 White-tailed Ptarmigans within 25 feet of where I was standing.  
With every step I had to watch carefully to be sure I wasn't going to 
disturb a bird.  I then began kicking myself for packing light, with only 
the R8/DMR and 280mm Telyt.  No extension tubes, no shorter lens!  While 
laying on the tundra for a low camera angle several of the Ptarmigans walked 
within a few inches of me, much too close to focus on.

Despite being chilled to the bone from sub-freezing temperatures, the leg 
cramps, the blasts of wind, the thin air that had me struggling to form a 
complete sentence, this was almost paradise: alpine tundra, sun and clouds 
playing peek-a-boo, an occasional Peregrine Falcon or Golden Eagle overhead 
and an elk's bugling drifting up from the valley below, surrounded by 
ptarmigans at arm's length.  Outdoor adventures rarely get any better than 
this.

Technical stuff: I had stuffed every DMR battery I own into an inside pocket 
of my parka to keep them warm.  The R9/DMR was in sub-freezing temperatures 
for about 4 hours and I expected to run out of battery power long before 
filling the memory cards, but my precautions were unnecessary because after 
a few hundred exposures and long after I had become numb from the cold, the 
DMR showed that the original battery had plenty of power remaining.  The 
only equipment failure was the QR clamp on the monopod's tilt head which 
kept un-twisting from the head.  An upgraded QR clamp is now in the mail.

This, along with the adorable cashier at the Ft. Collins Whole Foods store 
(I leave this to your imagination), was easily one of the most memorable 
events of my 3-week road trip.  All comments welcome.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com