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Ptarmigan in winter plumage, Glenshee
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Male Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in mostly winter plumage, just beginning to develop some darker feathers to get ready for the snow melt in the summer. You can tell he is a male from the obvious red wattle above his eye. In the female this is either absent or much less obvious.
25 February 2007
Female Ptarmigan in winter plumage, Glenshee
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Female Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage, Glenshee, camouflaged when against the snow, but standing out against a non-snowy background.
25 February 2007
Ptarmigan pair in winter plumage, Glenshee
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) pair in winter plumage, Glenshee. The female is on the left and the male on the right. He has a red wattle over his eye, while she doesn't. In a mild winter, they still turn white, and stand out against a rocky background instead of the white plumage being good camouflage. This will probably be an increasing problem with global warming.
25 February 2007
Cairnwell, Glenshee ptarmigan male portrait
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Male Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), Glenshee. You can see the red wattle above his eye, which shows he is a male.
02 March 2007
Ptarmigan footprints, Glenshee
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) footprint in the snow at Glenshee. Ptarmigan have feathered toes, to give them greater traction and save them sinking into the snow.
01 March 2007
Cairnwell, Glenshee ptarmigan footprints
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) footprints in the snow at Glenshee. Ptarmigan have feathered toes, to give them greater traction and save them sinking into the snow.
01 March 2007
Glenshee male ptarmigan
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) male on top of a rock, Glenshee
A female Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage looking up through the mist from the boulders, Glenshee.
27 February 2007
mountains east of Glenshee
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Glenshee - Ptarmigan in Winter
The winter of 2007 provided adequate snow cover for skiing at the time of our visit. This was not the case all winter, but in 2008 the snow cover lasted much longer.
