Paula Hansley and several other intrepid explorers including me followed the great Joyce Gellhorn into the tundra today in search of her beloved White-Tailed Ptarmigan. See her recent acclaimed book, "White-tailed Ptarmigan, Ghosts of the Alpine Tundra." This outing was an offering from the Boulder County Nature Association, and included a Thursday night classroom session. Today we drove from Boulder to Guanella Pass via Grant, as the Georgetown side is not plowed this year. We joined some wildlife professionals from the South Platte Ranger District for their annual survey of White-tailed Ptarmigan at Guanella Pass, a traditional gathering place for ptarmigan within a 40 mile radius--I guess the willow buds taste best at Guanella pass and they all get to see their pals, a huge winter lek of sorts.
Participants fanned out into the vast willow carr beneath Mt. Bierstadt to search for the white ghosts. The snow was unusually soft and deep, so we struggled, post-holing despite our snow shoes. But we managed to see about 30 white-tailed ptarmigan total during our five hours of surveying, all snow white, constantly moving, sinking, popping up, blasting off. The highlight, rather odd, was when an F-16 fighter jet buzzed Guanella pass. About 25 ptarmigan suddenly blasted off and flew tree-high for quite a long distance. Now that is a very effective survey technique! Side note: the rangers with us were on the lookout today for a wolverine originating from Yellowstone, Wyoming. It carries an embedded transmitter. Yesterday a ranger found sheep-kill at the pass. We didn’t see the wolverine, they can travel 50 miles in a day, but Go Blue! FYI is a map where I saw a few ptarmigan, just east of the boardwalk: http://tiny.cc/dUA02 Thanks to all involved, a wonderful day. Tom Wilberding Boulder, Colorado -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds". To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en Visit the CFO Website at: www.cfo-link.org
