Hi Tweets,

Heather and I decided to take advantage of another beautiful weekend and
headed up to Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park in search of a good
hike and White-tailed Ptarmigan.

We found 3 Ptarmigan east of Panorama Point in the basin. We first spotted
them about 11:30am, next to the largest stream with the largest amount of
green foliage next to it. The slowly walked toward Panorama Point.

They are starting to go into really interesting plumages. Two of the
appeared to be adult according to my reading of Sibley. White underneath
and on the tail and a grayish topside with the black splotches all over the
lower back. What was amazing was when they would set down amongst the
rocks, the looked just like another boulder with lichen on it.

The third bird I can't begin to guess its age. It was bluish gray
throughout the head and back and was starting its fall molt. Large
splotches of white where coming in all over the back against the gray -
quite dramatic. Of course, the best part was looking at their feathered
big, white feet.

We also looked for Rosy Finches near the snowfield, but no luck. Lots of
looks at about 50 American Pipits a few dozen times.

Good Birding

Marcus Roening
Tacoma, WA
marcus.d.roening at gsk.com