Willow Ptarmagan

Gallery: AvianPosted August 14, 2012227 views21 comments

Another one from Nome. Hearing these guys sing is really a treat, they have such a comical sounding voice. This particular bird was in this area every morning we passed through his territory. Toward the end of our time in Nome, he became quite approachable and gave us some great poses.

Canon MkIV, 600mm, f5.6, 1/250, ISO 800, manual spot meter

All your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated

Ken Archer

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Jaymes Dempsey on August 14, 2012 at 5:39 PM

Nice one, Ken! Great pose, perch, background...

Registered on June 28, 2010, 47 Posts, 590 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on August 14, 2012 at 6:05 PM

Great pose with the birds plumage raised, nice head turn too Ken.
The unusual perch adds a lot of interest, excellent all-around!
I especially like this distinctive birds red eye patch, very cool

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on August 14, 2012 at 7:24 PM

WOW, there thumbs up for the perch, pose, whites and sharpness, you hit the nail strait on head!!!!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on August 14, 2012 at 7:38 PM

Ken,
Cool Capture, well presented,

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on August 14, 2012 at 8:30 PM

Sweet! That perch and background compliment the bird so well. Lovely frame

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on August 15, 2012 at 2:14 AM

All round fine image.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on August 15, 2012 at 8:57 AM

Beautiful light! Like everything about this.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on August 15, 2012 at 12:12 PM

Very interesting to see it's coat of thick feathers. Nice job of getting this difficult contrast shot. I like the pose, head turn and the foreground, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 15, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Excellent - everything is perfect - pose, perch, BG, detail.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Randy Bacon on August 15, 2012 at 5:00 PM

Love it! Colors, detail, perch and BG are top notch and I especially like the puffed up pose - nice!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 56 Posts, 492 Comments

Comment posted by Rebecka on August 15, 2012 at 5:27 PM

I glimpsed the thumbnail and right away knew this was your work, and from your trip to Nome. Love it, Ken! What a beautiful bird, and what a treat it must have been to see and hear them in person.

Registered on February 5, 2009, 170 Posts, 924 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 15, 2012 at 5:53 PM

Very cool, Ken. Excellent pose and angle and I like the transitional plumage.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on August 15, 2012 at 6:49 PM

Very nice shot; good detail in the whites.

The male Willow Ptarmigan call is only comical if they aren't singing all night from a perch on your tent.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Ralph Kerr on August 15, 2012 at 7:06 PM

Great photo, Ken. Not much more I can add to the others. Just great detail on the whites

Registered on January 30, 2007, 369 Posts, 852 Comments

Comment posted by Lennart Augustsson on August 16, 2012 at 3:09 AM

Very nice picture. I like the BG, the pose of the bird and the fluffy feathers!

Registered on July 29, 2011, 21 Posts, 137 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on August 16, 2012 at 8:08 AM

Excellent capture, the details are great. Love the ruffled neck feathers.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on August 16, 2012 at 10:47 PM

The head turn really catches the light well, Ken. Love the perch and all the fluffy feathers.
Well done.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on August 17, 2012 at 1:13 PM

He looks like a very proud ptarmigan

. You sure are right that he gave you some poses, and you made the most of it! Excellent image, Ken!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on August 17, 2012 at 6:25 PM

Holy Cow Ken. Is this really nice??? You have everything in this image. A very beautiful bird, a nice perch/foreground, a background that really sets off the subject, and a head turn giving us a full profile of his head and full frontal of his body. The light is nice and soft, the exposure is spot on, it's sharp and I really want this in my files.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on August 18, 2012 at 11:05 PM

Gorgeous portrait Ken, gotta love that "perch" and the ruffled pose

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on August 21, 2012 at 4:12 PM

Thanks everyone for your inspiring comments on my photo

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments