Grey (Hungarian) Partridge (4 images)

I've been trying to get some reasonable images of this species for a couple of years now. They're not common in Ottawa but at least 3 birds have been seen regularly in the Kanata (western end of Ottawa). I took these photos last weekend but the lighting was terrible as the birds stayed under the cover of a spruce for the 1 1/2 hours that I tried to photograph them. I used my vehicle as a blind.

In these photos you can see that their plumage allows them to blend into their surroundings quite well.

All taken with the Canon 40D and Sigma 50-500mm by resting the lens on the SUV window frame.

1. Slow approach

Great Stephen but where's is the bird? Oh, now I see him!

Wow, I had no idea these birds were up there. Thanks for sharing these, great work and congrats.

very nice images Stephen, Ive been wanting to get out there and see them as well as it would be a lifer for me

Stunning Bird Very Well capture Stephen~!!

Great series of an odd-looking bird.

Thank you Val, Steve, Wayne, gary and Cyclop.

I love the forest-y feel to them.

Very nice sighting and a very cool species, I would love to see one someday! ...BTW, Are they skittish? Getting out of your vehicle may have yielded a more eye level view with them but then again, I don't know if that was possible and I wouldn't necessarily want to be the one freezing out in the cold either...

Darn good series. Never have seen a Hungarian Partridge before.

What an interesting look and beautiful bird... great poses, I love that first shot.

db

Thank you TS, Downy, Pat and DB.

Downy, I normally try and get an eye level angle as well but I had four challenges in taking these photos that morning:

1. Birds were laying low beneath a Spruce with dense branches.

2. Most of the base of the tree was blocked from view by several frozen snow banks dumped onto the lawn by a plough.

3. Several birders arrived to try and view the birds and whenever anyone got out of their cars the birds crouched low to the ground again for 5-10 minutes. I'm not complaining about the birders just noting what the birds did every time a person tried to view them from outside their vehicle.

4. Finally it was mid morning with very cold temperatures and strong wind. The little sun that was there was only rising about the snow banks behind them when I was ready to leave.

Luckily my SUV was high enough to allow me to shoot over the top of the snow bank!

Stephen,

Great pics!

They are up there. If you want to get more of them, find a falconer.

Greg

Great series, Look very much like our English grey Partridge
Regards
Colin

Thanks Greg and Colin. Colin I believe that these are the same species as yours. They're not native to North America but were introduced from Europe.