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Author Topic: White-tailed Ptarmigan?  (Read 910 times)
Athena
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Heermann's Gull
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Posts: 169
« on: March 13, 2009, 02:23:20 PM »
Has anyone ever actually seen one in California?

If so, where and when?

Thanks.
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If you're small and on the search, I've got a feeder for you to perch on.
petronius
Ring-billed Gull
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Posts: 2
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2009, 05:26:44 PM »
It's probably been five years, but I saw a bunch in the High Sierra - on the 'trail' between Jumble Lake and Italy Pass. The first sign was a lot of feathers, but after a minute I realized that some of the little round rocks were actually birds...
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Opossums
Ring-billed Gull
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Posts: 4
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2009, 11:21:54 AM »
My wife and I had a female White-tailed Ptarmigan with a chick at the base of a snowfield in the High Sierra this past summer.  This was at a knapsack pass between Bighorn Lake and Tully Lake.  I think it was Bighorn Pass, and it's in Secor's guide to the peaks and passes of the Sierra.  I have no idea what county that would be, and you'd have to pack in to reach it.  The closest entry point would be McGee Pass near Mammoth.

The adult: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2727914621/

The chick: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2728737420/

-Jonathan Rowley
Whittier, CA
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chukar47
Ring-billed Gull
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Posts: 3
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2009, 03:19:39 PM »
Athena,

I'm also interested in seeing a WTPt in Calif.
Research elsewhere indicates that Saddlebag Lake, a few miles NW of Tioga Pass in Yosemite AND to which you can drive, is a good place to look. Other people mention "Secret Lake" (supposedly secret because it's always under snow/ice) which apparently is somewhere beyond Saddlebag Lake and to which you must hike, as a good place to look. The birds were introduced in 1971/72 a bit farther north, but have spread as far south as somewhere due west of Bishop.

Did you go look for it? If so, please share.
Chuck Almdale
North Hills, Ca.
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Athena
Administrator
Heermann's Gull
*****
Posts: 169
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2009, 10:09:30 AM »
I have looked for it in the mountains beyond Saddlebag Lake.

The last time I went looking there I had a bit of a rough time, and I was hoping someone might suggest another location.

("Bit of a rough time" means faffing around lost in the dark in 40 degree weather, getting back to my car at around 10, and within an hour of getting back to the car getting pulled over by the rangers for being suspicious. (Owling is not a law-enforcement-friendly activity!))
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If you're small and on the search, I've got a feeder for you to perch on.
chukar47
Ring-billed Gull
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Posts: 3
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2010, 01:47:06 PM »
Well it's now 6 months after my previous RFI posting on the White-tailed Ptarmigan.
I'm still hoping to get up to Saddlebag Lake area near Tioga Pass edge of Yosemite this coming June or July but if anyone has any better or newer information, I'd be eager to get it. If anyone wants to join us (wife & me), let me know and perhaps we can work something out.
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Athena
Administrator
Heermann's Gull
*****
Posts: 169
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2010, 08:41:03 PM »
It should be a fun trip.

Prepare for bitter, bitter cold though.
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If you're small and on the search, I've got a feeder for you to perch on.
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