A Pair of Wintery Gray Partridges Drop By

Male Gray Partridge on the snow bank
in my front yard. (Taken through the front door...) © SB

All winter, small flocks of Gray Partridges have visited our front yard.

Six, eight, fourteen...

We see their footprints crisp in the snow, their bodies blurred in the pale blue light that rises before dawn here in Regina, SK.

These birds startle easily, and any movements by our door — like standing beside it or opening it  — send them cackling into dimly lit flight.

Finally, a pair dropped by in the warm cloud-haze of noon.

Finally, a pair sauntered down the sidewalk for me, instead of immediately taking to wing.

Finally, I have Partridge shots that make me happy just to see their orange heads, gray necks and streaked brown feathers.

And yes, for anyone doing sex-sorting, the male is the one with the much redder head; the female is overall more brown. A pair! It must be spring!

Just a closer walk along the sidewalk... Really, it's safe? This one was taken after they walked 
behind the van and I crept outside to stalk them with a long lens.  © SB

What are these? Gray Partridges.  

Location: On a snow bank in my front yard and along the sidewalk in front of my neighbour's house, Regina, Saskatchewan
Photo dates: March 14, 2014. 

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Gray Partridges in Regina, Saskatchewan

Yes, Gray Partridges in my Regina, Saskatchewan, front yard. This pair showed up mid-morning on a harshly-backlit, white-sky winter day, as part of their local garden tour — in from the country, browsing for food.

Not sure what these red-headed birds found in our snow drifts, though, other than the buried remnants of two frozen Christmas trees. Still, they made me smile. (I love the bouncing effect of the bird, front left, which has both of its feet off the ground.)

Gray Partridges, touring the neighbourhood. © SB

We usually see a Partridge or two on our street at least once every winter. Odd, though... Not in summer. And I've only once caught a glimpse of their chestnut-red or gray-brown feathers out in what I think should be their natural habitat (whatever that means to a bird), north of the city at the Condie Nature Refuge.

What are these? Gray Partridges.
Location: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Photo dates: March 16, 2013. 

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