BIRDING TO THE EDG

White-tailed Ptarmigans in Colorado are notoriously difficult to find. Now, I am of the opinion that if ample time is given to the searcher and with knowledge of the habitat the birds live in, then one can find these birds with a little more frequency than the average. A friend, Bill Schmoker, tipped me off about where exactly to find some of these birds. I have never found Ptarmigan in winter plumage, so I wanted to make sure to ask around first.

I woke up around 6am on Saturday morning with the intention of going to Guanella Pass to look for White-tailed Ptarmigans. The road is usually closed from both ends of the summit this time of year, but some of this springtime sun may have melted off the road, so I thought. I took my 4Runner up to about 1.75 miles from the summit. From there I walked using my Crescent Moon snow shoes to get up the last bit of the mountain. It was a nice day meaning the wind was merciful, but no sun! I made my way up to the summit and found the trail that Bill had been talking about when I asked him earlier.

I walked out about 300 yards and found some tracks in the snow. Chicken tracks are identifiable by the long toes and small pads on the feet. There are no other chickens with furry feet at 11,700 feet, so I knew they were close. But how close? Usually, (since it snows daily up there) if you see tracks or scat they are probably right under your nose. I heard a little gargle to my right and then saw a bit of movement. Yes indeed, I had just found a group of Ptarmigan. Funny thing was I actually walked by a couple before realizing I was in the middle of the group not to mention the completely still bird that was two feet from me not making a peep. I found these birds with relative ease, but still had to snow-shoe it a couple miles up the mountain to get there.



These birds will give you an extensive study should you need one, but in order to not disturb the birds I spent only twenty minutes with them. Usually you don't need binoculars with you, but I still had my Nikon EDG binoculars with me so I could stay a few feet away without bothering them. Notice the photo above, the large feet! These feet act as mini snow shoes for the birds to keep them afloat the snow even though the average bird weighs around a pound. Notice the how the feathering extends all the way down the toes! Helps keep thermal regulation as the birds spend the whole winter in one of the harshest climates in the world. They even have hair bristles near the nostrils to help warm the air before it gets to the nose. Not much can live up here consistently.



Often enough, you will find these guys grouped up near a stunted spruce with the local willow species around (their food source). When escaping a predator they will fly short distances, but do prefer to run when they can. Of course, their number one defense mechanism is cryptic coloration. Look at the pictures! Tuck in the beak and close the eyes and they look no different than a patch of snow especially from above. They molt their feathers into a conglomeration of browns and blacks in the summer that makes them appear as rocks. It is really amazing!

Once, I was laying on my stomach on the tundra (three years ago) photographing a Ptarmigan for fifteen minutes. Real cooperative! It wasn't until fifteen minutes later I noticed a male Ptarmigan three feet from my face in my peripherals. I actually just stared at it for a while in amazement that I hadn't noticed the bird. How can Prairie Falcons see them?

Coming off the mountain wasn't as easy as going up, ironically! A blizzard had moved in and the wind really picked up. After about ten minutes hiking down I looked at my Nikon EDG binoculars and noticed that the eye cups had filled with snow (I don't usually use eye cup covers). Not that I was worried. Especially with the nitrogen-purged barrels keeping everything dry on the inside. I blew off the snow and wiped them down with a micro-fiber lens cloth and I was good to go!


Here is a little shot for everyone of myself looking like the Abominable Snowman!
I took the shots of the Ptarmigan with a Nikon D200 and a 300 mm F4 Nikkor lens. The last picture of me was taken by a Nikon Coolpix P5100 using the 10-second self-timer.