It was fun to meet this flock of grouse who were just changing their winter overalls. Because the ground was completely free of snow, the birds hid under the trees for protection from birds of prey. Maybe that’s why the birds were really fearless towards the photographer
all
Nikon D750 / Tamron 70-210/4
Oh what a great series. I’ve always loved ptarmigan from afar since I’ve never seen one. Here we have a couple of species of grouse, but none do this color morph in winter like our snowshoe hares do. The first shot is especially engaging because of the eye level height and the coming at you action. Super series.
Well caught as it speeds across the field. Clear and beautiful details.
Thanks Marie and Kristen. The previous bird photos are from 2008 and these were not very easy to photograph them. The camera focused like it hurts and most of the pictures were wrongly focused. In the first one, only one was properly focused. Should have studied the operation of the camera, so there could have been more correctly focused frames 
Oh I know the feeling Jorma! Just the other day I completely missed a flying eagle against fall foliage. I was in the backyard so it wasn’t like it was some massive effort, but if I’d just remembered that I could manually adjust the focus and really make sure I had it, I probably would have at least one that works. As it is the camera focused on the trees and not the bird. Doh! (Do Homer Simpson-isms reach Finland?)
I really like the running pose in the first image, Jorma. The others do a nice job of showing habitat and plumage variation at this time of year. An excellent series.
HI Jorma
Very nice series of shot. I wanted to the first shot was the best, but then I saw the third and fell in love. I looks like the opening to a fairy tale. Very nice work.
Peter
I like all 3 of these Ptarmigan photos, Jorma! The first one is a nice portrait with lots of feather detail, the second shows that they aren’t always on the ground and the third is an excellent environmental context shot. Nice job of capturing them. I know they can move pretty fast when they want to so it can be difficult. Great job with managing the exposure and focus on all 3 of them!
I’m just gonna say “Thanks for sharing these, they’re gorgeous”
Especially since I’ve never seen one!
Well done!
