PTARMIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY, CAIRNGORMS

 

Ptarmigan enjoying a stroll in the snow

A fabulous day again in the Cairngorms with wall to wall sunshine and cloudless skies. High pressure over much of the UK bringing warm temperatures too. It was a brilliant day to be up high on the Cairngorms again. I wanted to get some images of the fabulous Ptarmigan before their winter plumage changes and to capture them in the snow. 

I set out from the house on the bike. A glorious, cool morning. The Glenmore road was far busier with traffic. Being Easter Holidays but also the ski road up to Coire Cas opened up again on Friday. I still enjoy the bike ride though. It is very satisfying, pure and of course very scenic way of journeying to the high mountains.

Beautiful, warm morning over Strathspey

As per usual when on the hills alone I have a very flexible idea of where I want to roam for the day. After seeing over 50 cars and campervans whizzing by me in Glenmore I definitely didn't want to go up anywhere from the Coire Cas carpark area. Instead I chose the far more quieter, scenic and mostly pathless route up to the high tops.

Bynack Mor and Strath Nethy

Grand views looking down to Strath Nethy

egular visitors to my Blog and Facebook posts may well think I am not a sociable person when I bang on about the virtues of 'solitude' and 'no crowds' on the hills. This isn't so of course. I guide folk out in the hills and I like company out on the hills, sometimes. For wildlife photography crowds, noise and lots of folk are not conducive if you want to observe, photograph and spend time with wildlife. 

Sitting pretty in the snow

From leaving the road I saw no one one on the hill. My judgment of a less crowded area paid off. Within an hour or so I spotted my first Ptarmigan. A fabulous pair gazing out across Strath Nethy. The Male ( as usual) some distance apart from the female but always within eyesight of each other. The Female  (hen) was still almost completely in her Winter plumage still which is what I wanted. What masters of disguise they are amonst the snow, heather and rocks.

Female looking very elegant

Beautiful  light

I spent half an hour with these two in the sunshine, silence and no wind. It was a beautiful loaction and fabulous in the snow and sunshine. After lunch I headed further up towards the summit of Cairn Gorm. Enroue passing by Ciste Mheard. This small, shallow depression off the Cairngorm plateau is Scotlands most famous and reliable snowhole location. I call it 'Snowhole City' in Winter. This year, of course, very few (if any) folk have been spending a night out in snow. So to see it in its pristine state is a rare sight. 

Ciste Mheared and Cairn Gorm

Snowhole City

At the moment the cornice is still intact and still some huge depth. Anyone for a late season snowhole?

Crevasses

From the East

From the Ciste I headed up towards the summit of Cairn Gorm. The Eastern aspect of the firth highest summit in the UK is still well banked out with deep snow. It was stunning walking up these slopes and by now the sun warm very warm.  I saw a couple of distant skiers but that was it human wise. So I avoided the actual summit and wandered about off various areas where the rocks poked out. This will be the area that the Ptarmigan will e around. The snow is excellent camouflage but they also need a food source nearby and a few rocks for shelter/protection. All this knowledge is part of any wildlife photographers fieldcraft and knowledge.

Beinn Mheadhoin from the East slopes of Cairn Gorm

Ben Macdui in the distance

I soon spotted another pair of Ptarmigan. These two were just brilliant. Absolutely relaxed and just taking the spell of fine conditions to feed up on their nearby larder of grasses and heather. I spent over an hour and a half sitting, watching and photographing these two. Brilliant.

Male

Female

Mates

This particular pair are well into shredding off their Winter plumage and going into Spring feathers. This period in the year is the most colourful that these birds can be seen. The Feamale has beautiful glden brown feathers and the Male has striking big red eyebrows (Wattle). They will be mating up now and the chicks will come along around end of May/June.

In the snow

Rock and snow camouflage

Not so good camouflage, but good for hiding!

Always eyes on her mate

Together

I left them in peace and to enjoy the sublime conditions. The Cairngorms are one of the most unforgiving weather mountains we have in the UK. These beautiful birds never venture lower than about 600m. What hardy creatures they are to survive and thrive in this environment. Respect, as they say.

The upper ski area deserted

I headed down the hill and joined the Windy Ridge path back to Coire Cas. It was after 4pm and it was gloriously warm. What end to a terrific day. I was expecting to see mass of skiers as I strolled through the ski area. Didn't see a single person!

Coire Cas & Fiacaill Coire Sneachda from Windy Ridge

I did eventually pass 4 folk just 15 minutes from the Coire Cas carpark. Not bad going considering the car park was still half full. I picked up my bike and the wonderful cycle home down Glenmore in late afternoon warmth and sun. Apparently it was about 16 C in Aviemore this afternoon. 

Back to Winter from Sunday evening! Snow forecast and very low temperatures of minus 10 C on the tops. Some storm force winds thrown in for good measure. Now if that's not Winter conditions? I did say Winter don't end till at least mid-April, didn't I?

Loch Morlich & Northern Corries