Ptarmigan Hunting and some strange weather

Well, its spring time in Alaska, and while its not 40 below, its been cold and off and on snowing alot. On Tuesday we had a dismal day in town with gray skies and light sleetish rain, but when a friend and I headed west of town up to Murphy Dome (a really big hill, REALLY big hill that goes above the timber line and has one of those weird looking early warning missle defense thigns on top of it) check it out we found awesome weather. Sunny, about 55 degrees and no wind. We were determined to see and bring home some of the elusive ptarmigan that live on this hill. The ptarmigan for those who don't know is apparently not that hard of a bird to hunt if you can figure out where they are hanging around, but up to this point I have not found that place. They are solid white in the winter and blend in with the snow pretty well. In the meantime, you end up trudging through snow and ice trying to find that place. We hiked around for a couple of hours, up and down, through big wide stands of willows that harbored 3 and 4 foot deep snow that was way to soft to be walking on. Most all of that snow on the hill has gotten mushy by this time of year, just too much sun. So we're falling through here and there. Sinking up to the waist.
Well, I saw one bird. It was around that point where you mentally give up on the goal you set out for and just start walking, not really paying any attention to the surroundings. Thats when it always seems to happen for me. I am loping along, trying to stay on top of the snow and then there he is, about 10 feet from me, just looking up. I shot and thought I had him, but a second later he flew off and left me searching for the next hour. No luck.
Ooh well, hes either another predators free meal or somehow my tired shot was so off that it blew right past him. In the end, I was just glad to have seen a ptarmigan this year and to have gotten out and seen the beautiful mountains this time of year. Can you find the ptarmigan in this photo? This morning we had some freak snow storm move through that is still dumping snow as I write. Its supposed to turn to rain later this afternoon, so it'll probably all be gone in a few hours, but its weird how we keep drying up, losing all the snow and then get it back a day later.
Back to work for me...
-Justin