Ptarmigan in winter plumage, Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Ptarmigan blend well with the snow when they have their winter plumage. They spend the entire winter above timberline feeding off willow buds. They are fairly easy to find because they walk almost everywhere, leaving easy to follow trails. They must think they are invisible because they aren't at all afraid of the hikers who walk to within 3 feet to take pictures.

This is an amazing photo, loving your work

Hi Rosina,

I've run into ptarmigan, literally, in all four seasons now. They are very populace on the east side of Longs Peak on the flank of Mount Lady Washington. They are very curious about hikers as they will scurry away and pop up on a rock a few feet away to check you out. They are pretty vocal too. I've only seen one ptarmigan fly, and that was about 30 feet. Then he walked back over and followed us for a while. Curious animal! Thanks for the comment. Keep up your flower work.

Cheers

Rich

Hi, I saw your gallery. They are very beautiful pictures , in particular, I liked those with the snow! Hi, Fabio

Greetings Fabio, Thanks so much for visiting the posts and your wonderful comment. The ptarmigan are fun birds to photograph. They are hard to find, but once you do they are very friendly and will sit still for you. Maybe they think they are still hidden with the white feathers... ;-)) I saw plenty of snow yesterday, but no ptarmigan. Thanks again.

Cheers,

Rich

Excellent camouflage. This is an delicate photo.

Greetings, Pepe

Greetings Pepe, Thanks for visiting the ptarmigan, and your wonderful comments. I really enjoy these birds. When you do find them they are comfortable with you being near by. So you can take lots of pictures and they will stay where they are. As you see, winter is hard to find them because they are white like the snow. In summer they are hard to find because the feathers blend with the rock colors. A very interesting bird.

Cheers,

Rich

a really nice photo of puffed sweet Ptarmigan =)

Cheers

amazing camouflage, and beautifully captured. One great shot. Greetings, susan

Greetings Hamza and Susan, Thanks for visiting and commenting on this beautiful bird. We saw hundreds of foot prints in the snow and knew they had to be around. We finally found them off the trail a few feet. They looked warm and comfy in the snow.

Cheers,

Rich

Very well captured，

this is really marvelous

like 5! so beautiful!

Beautiful capture! L

Elemér

just beauty...like

bonjour du sud-est de la FRANCE

Greetings Everyone, Thanks for visiting the ptarmigan up in the snowy tundra. They are such a friendly bird. They seldom fly away when you approach them for a photo. Cheers, Rich

Camouflage! Excellent shot. LIKE!!!Cheers Alexandra & Karl-Heinz

Greetings A&K, I like the ptarmigan because they are not afraid of the humans. They will let you walk right up to them. They are a fun subject to shoot. Cheers, Rich

Hola amigo Rich

Deben de ser muy abrigadas sus plumas para soportar tanto frío.

LIKE y F para este fantástico macro.

¡Buen domingo! Chaydeé.