This Sunday, Bill Bradford, Rhett Wilkins and I made an attempt to find the wholly, white alpine grouse in winter attire at Mt. Rainier. We took a chance with the iffy weather and snow. ?but when we arrived conditions were perfect! Mostly sunny, warm and no wind; unbelievable for November.
We started out well. ?Early in the morning, ?I spotted a BARRED OWL near the town of Ashford, hunting near the road. It was very cooperative and didn't realize how beautiful the back plumage is.?
Within a few minutes of getting out of car near the Paradise Inn, a dozen vociferous PINE GROSBEAK greeted us with their presence. They were busy feasting on the conifer cones and flying from one tree top to another. ?In addition, several dozen RED CROSSBILLS and PINE SISKINS were actively feeding on cones. ?The vibrant blue skies and perfect lighting attenuated the colors of these miniature, alpine parrot-like finches. They looked like glowing Christmas Ornaments.?
As we slowly ascended above treeline, a nice flock of 70-80 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES were also noted feeding on cones from the fir tops. ?The spumoni snowbirds were actively calling and swirling from trees to ridge line.?? ?
Deeper snow and more slippery conditions more were encountered as we climbed. Soon my instincts kicked in when I saw a good patch of habitat near a ridge, and we started to scan. ?Within less than a minute, Rhett non-chalantly said, "I found one"!????
Yes, a WHITE TAILED PTARMIGAN indeed! A glowing, PURE white bird in glorious light! ? It was amazing how bright it was and we were thrilled! We enjoyed the bird for a while as it calmly buried itself in the snow and fed. ?What a treat it was so surreal and amazing.??
On our way out of the park, we had one Red Fox trying to get food as we stopped for photos.?
Lastly, we noted several flocks of RED CROSSBILLS and other finches feasting on cones within a 35 mile radius of the park. Hoping this winter will be good and produced more colorful finches ( ie White winged Crossbills,Pine Grosbeaks, and Redpolls).?
Here is a VIDEO and the target of our affection:?
The Holy Grouse can magically disappear! ?Please watch in HD by clicking 720p or higher.?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEmlLCfDsAA

For PHOTOS and blog: ?You can visit Rhett Wilkins's cool website at:?
http://boundtobird.blogspot.com/

Good birding,
ktbirding.com?
Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)????