Winds can be very strong in the alpine where the white-tailed ptarmigan spend the winter. This ptarmigan is facing into the wind so that its feathers, that insulate it from the cold, will not be blown up and lose their insulating benefit.

The picture was taken using a Canon 7D with a Canon 70-300mm lens at 300mm, f/11, 1/4,000sec, ISO 640, and hand held.