Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada [July 2007]
We traveled to Canada in summer 2007 with Paradise Birding, on a trip led by Steve Shunk and David Wimpfheimer. This was our only day above the treeline at Jasper National Park. We walked from the tramway terminus up a gently-sloping path around the mountain, where we found a female Ptarmigan with her brood. Higher up, at the very top of the mountain, we found 3 males in close proximity. As you can imagine, we were all very excited about this moment and tried contain our enthusiasm so as not to frighten the (nearly oblivious) birds. The ptarmigan males did not really respond to our presence -- they seemed more interested in posturing for each other, taking dustbaths and short naps. Their half-white, half-speckled summer plumage is perfect camouflage for their summer habitat among mossy rocks with splotches the same color as the bird. Photographing these birds was an intense emotional experience, made more intense by a mysterious problem with my camera. As the ptarmigan males ran towards me, my camera refused to take any shots, and I nearly threw it off the mountain! Afterwards, I spent a few quiet moments just observing the birds, freed of the need to make photographs and just able to enjoy them.
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