Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Rock ptarmigans at fox den 12

One day when out on skis checking on the fox dens, I found this pair of rock ptarmigans. They were just by fox den 12, so I could not miss them. I approached them slowly giving them time to relax and get used to my presence.



The male seemed a little less relaxed, and watched my every step.



The female on the other hand let me slowly approach to about a few meters. As I was done photographing, I very carefully backed off again and let them go about their business while I went on with mine; checking the fox den. There were not many signs of activity although a fox had clearly used the den fairly recently as judged from tracks in the snow and shed winter fur in the entrance of the only hole that was not covered with snow.