ML620999200

Age and sex

Adult Male - 1

Observation details

*rare but suspected to inhabit McDonald Peak from their last record (to my knowledge) on April 16th, 1972. I started searching the lower elevations (above timberline) of southwest McDonald Peak without luck. After splitting up and regrouping, Anthony and I ascended up the south-central part of the peak, searching the patchily distributed rocky outcroppings with sparse vegetation without avail. Eventually, we reached the top of McDonald Peak, and off the bucket list it went! Continuing east down the ridge, we decided to stop for a brief break, nicely protected from the south winds. To our northeast, there was a small "bowl,” mostly snow-covered, but in the middle, a small patch of rocks mixed with vegetation along with running water was evident. At first, I veered left to take a glance over the peak to the north. After taking some landscape pictures, I headed down to the part where I had veered left from before, played the “WTPT song on Merlin” once, and the lichen-covered rocks came to life! I was in utter shock and awe!! Two individuals (likely males) responded and perched up on the rocks. I immediately shouted and waved over to Anthony, who was back at the “break area," to come quick. I then unpacked the camera from my backpack and started creeping downslope, respecting the space of the closest individual. After a bit, this individual got weary and flushed along with another individual (who was downslope/SE of us) around the NE curve of the peak. Surprisingly, the second individual (a male) that flew came back and landed near where it had taken off. Anthony and I both had poor looks at a third individual who disappeared in the midst of the action. After cautiously moving downslope of the “whiteish/molting” male perched on a small outcropping, a female who was all brown appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She was far less weary and enjoyed nipping at the short vegetation while the male kept his eye on us. It seemed like the male was being protective of the female, as if there was a nest nearby?! After taking a fair amount of pictures, the weather started to get sketchy. We got hailed on briefly, which was surprisingly painful. I wanted to spend more time with the birds but decided safety was more important. We slid down the snowy slope to the south, which was fun (but wet), and soon after, it started to pour rain + thunder/lightning. Fortunately, we made it back to camp safely, but soaking wet. The first individual was at 9592 feet, and the second and fourth (male and female) were just downslope at 9555 feet. Pictures, audio, and video tba!

Technical information

Model

EOS R5

Lens

RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

ISO

100

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

7471 pixels x 4983 pixels

Original file size

6.16 MB