White Tailed Ptarmigan

This is just excellent Dan - very well presented. I love seeing this bird, esp in Glacier as I grew up just 40 miles east of there. Very jealous though as I have no shots of the species, from there or anywhere else. Well done, esp at 1/60.

Beautiful capture of a beautiful subject!

A terrific image as posted. I've never known Ruffed Grouse to show so much white in the plumage. Do you have White-tailed Ptarmigan in Glacier National Park?

What a beautiful bird. Great detail, especially evident in the larger version. I also really like the habitat. The light looks like it is a bit blue (probably from the shadows). I've found a really simple solution in Photoshop is to create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, select the blue channel and move the Saturation slider to the left. I'm guessing that would solve the cool/blueish light. Still a really nice image.

Hey Richard,
Thanks for the comment, and the kind correction on ID. I was on the trail to Ptarmigan Tunnel and Ptarmigan Lake out of Many Glacier. I was kind'a hoping to see a Ptarmigan. Then I thought I found a ruffed grouse. Silly me. I have changed the Title from Ruffed Grouse to White Tailed Ptarmigan.
The birding checklist for Glacier Park shows the White-tailed Ptarmigan as rare but regular (Thanks Ron, for the checklist).
Keith, thanks for the comment. Now that you mention it, the photo looks slightly blue to me. My monitor is not calibrated though.
I would welcome further comments on ID and white balance.
Dan

A great shot of this cool bird. I've hiked Glacier and Big Mountain numerous times, never lucky enough to find these birds. I too see a tad of blue in the image, easily corrected no doubt. Congrats.

Lovely tight image of this bird. Seems to have a slight color cast. I feel like just a bit more room at the bottom. The bird is large and I think needs more support at the bottom.

Fantastic to get this! There is a moderate blue cast showing on my monitor.

A great look at this Ptarmigan Dan. Love the setting with the tuffs of grass. I agree, maybe warm it up just a bit to get the slight blue out of the whites. Very well done on this shot.

Fantastic detail and setting Dan - great shot

cheers
Rob

What an interesting bird, good job in what appears to be difficult light and I agree about the blue cast, the larger image has some wonderful detail, way to go.

Nice and sharp and I like the plummage!

Lovely pose, setting and bird. I like the crisp presentation too.

The habitat seems more like Ruffed Grouse territory, so I can understand the confusion. I really like the greenery in contrast to the white, black and rusty color on the Ptarmigan. I noticed the cool white balance as well, a pleasing version of the scene.

Dan,

Neat find and you also have a nice pose from the ptarmigan. Color does seem a touch cool to me, I think warming this up slightly will improve an already appealing image