A favourite mountain slope
Little country church at Dinton
Before winter officially arrives
Jagged little peaks
Winter in Kananaskis
Moose from the archives
Moose in the mountains
Kananaskis - a winter wonderland
Hello, winter
The difference 10 days make
A beauty of a barn
Lost, in Weaselhead
Morning sun over Pine Coulee Reservoir
Spider walking on snow
Old weathered shed
Distant ice patterns on the reservoir
Canada Geese on ice at Pine Coulee Reservoir
Old house next to metal silo
Christmas Market
Alberta foothills in the fall
Granary Road
The new "Famous Five" at Granary Road
New "barn", Granary Road
Autumn in Alberta
Northern Shrike
Walking in a winter wonderland
White-tailed Ptarmigan camouflage
A patch of blue
A white world
Time to rest
A happy find
Dazzling sunlight on distant peaks
When the land turns white
Unexpected, and very welcome, Moose
Hungry Moose
On its way down
Western Meadowlark
Old barn in spring snow
A rural "winter" scene
Early fall, looking (and feeling) like winter
Yellowlegs - Lesser or Greater?
Winter in the park
Delicate hoarfrost
Kananaskis, through the windshield
A few craggy peaks
Bighorn Sheep, number 18
And here comes the snow
Two winters ago
Winter wonderland on Plateau Mountain
It's beginning to look a lot like winter
Frosted grasses
Almost above the clouds
Ice crystals on a mountain top
A vanishing world
When sane people do crazy things
The difference a week makes
Remembering a cold, frosty bird count
Moose cow looking for salt
Reflection through the fog
A frosty prairie view
Old-aged matching colours
One of 9 Great Horned Owls
Through the frost to the bird blind
New roof and a fresh coat of paint
A foggy, frosty sunrise
A frosty view from Frank Lake blind
So far away, but better than nothing
Frosted Cattails
A clash of colour
A beautiful old Ford
Licking the salt
Sunlight on the low cloud
Morning awakes
Wild Turkeys
Wild Turkeys
Changing from green to white
Dark-eyed Junco / Junco hyemalis
Pine Coulee Reservoir, November 2013
Long-tailed Weasel
Pine Coulee Reservoir last November
Young bull Moose
Driving in a winter wonderland
Licking salt off its lips
A young male Moose
Mountain splendour
Moose portrait
Another car gets a licking
From my archives - Long-tailed Weasel
From shadow to light
Such a fun Moose
Cold, bleak and frosty
Long-tailed Weasel
What birders go through : )
Sunlit peaks
A final goodbye
No equipment needed - just a tongue
Sunbathed mountain slopes
A place of peace and beauty
Happy New Year, everyone!
Walking in a winter wonderland
Glorious, hoar frost day
Just for the record
Frosty old Chevrolet truck
Merlin male, back view
A few of the 25 Mule Deer seen
Always love an owl
Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
151 visits
Just like winter
![Just like winter Just like winter](https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/55/20/43945520.138f9e91.640.jpg?r2)
![](https://s.ipernity.com/T/L/z.gif)
NOTE to anyone who belongs to the ipernity website (includes me): ipernity will be closing. A great shame, but also frustrating. I have all 12,644 of my images and descriptions on ipernity - exactly the same as on Flickr. No idea where we are supposed to move to now, if anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas for good sites? I seem to read complaints about them all! Hope Flickr keeps going and going and going .....
www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4642052
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the places we stopped in Kananaskis on 23 November 2016. I think I'm right in saying that I used one of the special effects settings on my camera for this shot. On a day like this, it can be a very black-and-white world, though you can see just a hint of colour in this image..
There was no sign of the sun on 23 November 2016, when I had the chance to go back a second time to look for the White-tailed Ptarmigan in Kananaskis. Friend, Tony, had asked me if I'd like to go with him on 22 November, but I explained that I had already been asked if I'd like to go with mutual friends, Dorothy and Stephen. Tony was free the next day, which was wonderful, and so off we went.
The snow was so deep out there, that it made walking extremely difficult, so after our first search from the road, Tony put on his snowshoes and away he went. He quickly disappeared from sight, travelling through the trees. After a long time, there was still no sign of him - at which point I started to get concerned. Then, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of white and a flock of what turned out to be about 14 white birds flew over my head and across to the far side of the road. What a beautiful sight! Tony, who is an excellent, very experienced birder, had been unable to find any Ptarmigan, until he accidentally flushed them! When I first saw this flock in flight, my mind whirled, as I never thought of these birds flying, lol. Then it clicked in that maybe that was what I had just witnessed.
I walked as fast as I could down the road and eventually spotted the white on white. The lack of sun made it more difficult than ever to see them, at first huddled under a tree. Thank goodness they were still there by the time Tony arrived, as this was the first time he had ever seen White-tailed Ptarmigan. The two of us had tried several times in the last few years, without any luck. I believe most people haven't seen them when they turn white for the long winter months. So, to have seen this many individuals and on two days running, I feel extremely fortunate! Thanks so much for this second chance, Tony, and I am so relieved that you finally saw this lifer and were able to get beautiful photos of them!
These birds tend to walk around in just a very small area for a while, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process.
"The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id
"The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan
www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4642052
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the places we stopped in Kananaskis on 23 November 2016. I think I'm right in saying that I used one of the special effects settings on my camera for this shot. On a day like this, it can be a very black-and-white world, though you can see just a hint of colour in this image..
There was no sign of the sun on 23 November 2016, when I had the chance to go back a second time to look for the White-tailed Ptarmigan in Kananaskis. Friend, Tony, had asked me if I'd like to go with him on 22 November, but I explained that I had already been asked if I'd like to go with mutual friends, Dorothy and Stephen. Tony was free the next day, which was wonderful, and so off we went.
The snow was so deep out there, that it made walking extremely difficult, so after our first search from the road, Tony put on his snowshoes and away he went. He quickly disappeared from sight, travelling through the trees. After a long time, there was still no sign of him - at which point I started to get concerned. Then, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of white and a flock of what turned out to be about 14 white birds flew over my head and across to the far side of the road. What a beautiful sight! Tony, who is an excellent, very experienced birder, had been unable to find any Ptarmigan, until he accidentally flushed them! When I first saw this flock in flight, my mind whirled, as I never thought of these birds flying, lol. Then it clicked in that maybe that was what I had just witnessed.
I walked as fast as I could down the road and eventually spotted the white on white. The lack of sun made it more difficult than ever to see them, at first huddled under a tree. Thank goodness they were still there by the time Tony arrived, as this was the first time he had ever seen White-tailed Ptarmigan. The two of us had tried several times in the last few years, without any luck. I believe most people haven't seen them when they turn white for the long winter months. So, to have seen this many individuals and on two days running, I feel extremely fortunate! Thanks so much for this second chance, Tony, and I am so relieved that you finally saw this lifer and were able to get beautiful photos of them!
These birds tend to walk around in just a very small area for a while, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process.
"The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id
"The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2024
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
Sign-in to write a comment.