Carol and Tweeters,

Guess what, Carol-- two of my worst Washington "jinx birds" are the
same as yours-- Spruce Grouse and White-tailed Ptarmigan! In part,
that can be attributed to my not spending enough time in the alpine
and subalpine areas of the state. I haven't spent a lot of time
specifically looking for Spruce Grouse, and have never visited Roger
Lake, which seems to be the best spot in the state for this species.
However, I HAVE spent a lot of time looking for ptarmigan. At least 6
visits I have made to Ptarmigan Ridge (!) on Mount Baker have been
unsuccessful, even though I have talked to other people who saw
ptarmigan the same day that I was there.

Fortunately, I have seen both Spruce Grouse and White-tailed Ptarmigan
a number of times in B.C., but both of these species-- especially
ptarmigan-- can be secretive and hard to find. My first White-tailed
Ptarmigan in the Lower 48 states were seen in 1994 near Logan Pass in
Glacier National Park, Montana, probably very close to where you saw
yours.

Another of my "jinx birds" for Washington, albeit a less common one,
is Blue Jay. I guess I should head for Yakima and Benton Counties...

Sincerely,

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops, BC
contopus at home.com



----- Original Message -----
From: Lynn & Carol Schulz <linusq at worldnet.att.net>
To: Tweets <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 8:21 AM
Subject: Re: jinx bird, not hardly!!


> Hi Tweets:
> I laughed out loud (LOL) at Denny Granstrand's whiny msg. about jinx
birds.
> I had always called them nemesis birds, but I think I like jinx bird
better.
> My jinx birds were Spruce Grouse and White-tailed Ptarmigan. Try
climbing
> about 1500 feet in elevation and hiking about 7 miles every time you
want to
> seek the elusive White-tailed Ptarmigan. I guess they are even hard
to bag
> up in Alaska. I finally had to go to another state to see both of
the
> birds. We went to Montana in September, and visited Glacier Nat'l.
Park. I
> have to admit that we were "driving around drinking coffee AND
sodas, we did
> munch on donuts, and we DID listen to NPR. Sheesh, I think Denny
was
> watching us or something. I got the White-tailed Ptarmigan up at
the top of
> the main pass over the top of the park, where birding friends told
me they
> were. Then I talked to a park ranger at a visitor center. She was
into
> birds and she connected me w/ the park wildlife biologist. I told
him I
> wanted Spruce Grouse. He got all excited and told me to walk up
THIS TRAIL,
> and SIT HERE! I did, and didn't get the bird. So I sat on a log,
got out
> my lunch, and started talking on my FRS radio to my husband, who was
back at
> the parking lot. Just then a beautiful male Spruce Grouse walked
across the
> trail 8 feet away, and then just kind of hung out very close to me.
Wow!
> When I got back to WA, I talked to people at the WOS meeting. They
said
> that despite all rumors to the contrary, Spruce Grouse and
White-tailed
> Ptarmigan are not a myth in Washington, and that they actually
exist.
> Yeah, right.
> Anyway, Denny, thanks for a good laugh.

> Yours, Carol Schulz
> DesMoines