Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/09/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Doug, You got much deeper in the park than I did in a one day visit many years ago. Beautiful images. They seem as calm as the chipmunks that hang out at all the tourist stops! Jim Nichols Tullahoma, TN USA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Herr" <wildlightphoto at earthlink.net> To: <lug at leica-users.org> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 3:56 PM Subject: [Leica] IMG: White-tailed Ptarmigan > 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >