White-tailed Ptarmigan

We did not feel very optimistic when we reached the famous site at 3655 meters a.s.l. The weather was overcast, wind was howling, it was already late in the afternoon and bird activity seemed to be next to zero. After a fair bit of scanning from the road, I set out on the snow-covered slopes to look for the Ptarmigan. Nothing, the Pikas around were laughing at me… As it got darker, I realized that this was going to be a big miss, and I turned back. Suddenly, as I was almost back to the car, I heard a call breaking through the wind. I called back, and there he was!