Species of the week 1 & 2 Winter Disguise - Ptarmigan and Mountain Hare

On my blog I have decided to put a little piece each week about a species and as we are in the 2nd week of 2015 already I am doing 2 for this week. Firstly I will be posting about some species I am fairly familiar with to get going but then the idea is to add 'new to me' species that I will also be posting on iSpot to check identification.

So the species for the the first and second week of January is....Lagopus muta, the ptarmigan and Lepus timidus, the mountain hare.

Lagopus muta, the ptarmigan, summer plumage - Northern Highlands, Scotland

Lagopus muta, the ptarmigan, summer plumage - Northern Highlands, Scotland

The pictures above are of a ptarmigan in summer. This guy was pretty hard to spot. They are so well camouflaged against the speckled and lichen covered granite rock. The plumage of a ptarmigan in summer is grey, black and brown with a white belly. In winter however, there is a remarkable transformation of plumage.....

Lagopus muta, the ptarmigan, winter plumage - Cairngorm, Scotland

Lagopus muta, the ptarmigan, winter plumage - Cairngorm, Scotland

In winter, the ptarmigan's plumage is white except from the black eyespot and tail. This again gives it amazing camouflage against the snow. The ptarmigan also gets fluffy feet in winter, or more scientifically accurate it has foot feathers which aid with keeping feet warm against the snow.

The other species that changes it's coat colour in winter is the Lepus timidus, the mountain hare. I don't have any pictures of a mountain hare in summer but they basically have a brown coat. 

Lepus timidus, the mountain hare, winter plumage - Cairngorm, Scotland

Lepus timidus, the mountain hare, winter plumage - Cairngorm, Scotland

This is one of the most beautiful animals I have seen in the wild. This mountain hare was sitting by a rock enjoying the sunshine. It was a rare beautiful sunny February day and the hare was simply enjoying the warmth. He didn't seem to bothered about my presence and only as I got closer he started to pay attention and think about moving. Any other hares I have seen have bolted off immediately. 

Lepus timidus, the mountain hare, winter plumage - Cairngorm, Scotland

In winter the coat of the hare changes with the change in temperature, making them vulnerable if the snow cover does disappear. What is very noticeable on this mountain hare is the black ear tips. 

So there you have 2 amazing examples of how animals adapt to the changing seasons in terms of survival.

Sources of info:

http://www.welcometoscotland.com/about-scotland/wildlife-around-scotland/northern-birds-scotland/ptarmigan (Accessed 10 January 2015)
http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/p/ptarmigan/index.aspx (Accessed 10 January 2015)
http://www.mammal.org.uk/sites/default/files/factsheets/mountain_hare_complete.pdf (Accessed 10 January 2015)