I received a couple of enquiries about the ptarmigan so thought I'd post this.
Thanks to Arie Gilbert for posting for me, since I was having trouble accessing
e mail at the time and wanted to get the word out quickly.
We were planning a trip upstate for the long weekend but changed our plans
after hearing that the Ptarmigan was still around. I was away when it was first
found, and thought it had disappeared or left. So last Friday we drove up to
Point Peninsula to look for the Ptarmigan. We arrived around 11:30 and looked
all afternoon without success. We had heard the bird was being seen on private
property on the dirt road past the South Shore road extension. We stayed on the
dirt road and looked for residents to ask permission. One couple said we were
welcome to visit their property, and another very helpful couple, Tom and
Wendy, said it had been on their property for the last few weekends. They live
in the Syracuse area and visit on weekends. They had not seen it the day before
or Friday. We gave up around 5:30 and drove out on South Shore Road. We were
very surprised to see them driving along the road, looking for us. Just after
we left Wendy had looked again and found the dead bird in the same area that it
had been frequenting, in a tall patch of grass by the beach, 2 houses down the
road. They drove off to find us and let us know, which was way beyond the call
of duty. We returned with them to see the bird and took a picture. It did not
show any signs of trauma, other than a somewhat ratty looking neck. It did seem
very small, so possibly it starved or died of a disease. Wendy said it had been
frequenting the beach , which I thought odd for a ptarmigan, especially with
good brush nearby.
I contacted Jeff Bolsinger, and Paul Sweet of the American Museum of Natural
History contacted me, so hopefully they will examine the specimen. Tom and
Wendy offered to hold on to it, after we declined their offer to keep it. They
deserve special mention for their helpfulness and graciousness overall and in
offering me a consolation beer - and a good microbrew at that. Wendy said the
previous weekend she felt like a tour guide showing several groups of people
the bird, none of whom posted on this bird line unfortunately.
So hopefully the carass will be examined to determine cause of death and be
stored in a museum somewhere. It was a great bird, it's just too bad more of us
couldn't have seen it before its demise.
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