Luck (plus the very gracious Khan Tranh who showed me where the birds
were) presented a spectacular male and female White-tailed Ptarmigan
adult pair, calmly cooing, eating Mimulus (I think) flowers, fluffing
up in the sun, pooping, and turning to present every angle. The female
was about 50% molted into her white winter plumage, and the male was
about 30% white. Both had bright orange-red above their eyes,
Soon Paul Bannick came along, lugging a huge camera, and 3 more
birders. We all got as much of a look as we could wish for - the birds
seemed not to mind all the attention.
They were located on a trail that would (if it wasn't covered by a
deep and steep snow field) cut east and down from Panorama Point for
about 0.3 mile to intersect with the Skyline Trail, about 0.6 miles up
the hill from the Golden Gate Trail. They were on a small ridge
dividing the snow field from the bowl where Khan tells me ptarmigans
are usually looked for. Fortunately, they were silhouetted against the
mist that was there when we arrived; then they walked across the trail.

A life bird for me, and a beautiful reward after 4 previous trips up
Rainier with no similar luck.

Gary Kelsberg
Seattle
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