We have a group of bird conservationist staying with us and they will climb Mount Hiuchi in search of the elusive and endangered ptarmigan , a plump gamebird, slightly larger than a grey partridge. In summer, it’s a mixture of grey, brown and black above with white bellies and wings. In winter, it becomes totally white except for its tail and eye-patch, they hope to document the numbers as well as add GPS details to a larger data base. They will be accompanied by a film crew from NHK Niigata to document the weekend, it’s going to be fun