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We saw something interesting yesterday in late morning. Anne was looking out the dining room window to the north and noted some odd tracks in the fresh snow below the windows. After looking for a bit we saw that about 20 partridge had buried themselves into the fresh snow. Holes here and there over maybe a 25 foot diameter. As I got to the window, something must have startled them as they all erupted from the snow holes and flew north maybe 50 yards. Then---they all dived into the snow, completely disappearing, not bothering to land first, but just like diving into water. Well, it gave us something fun to talk about during lunch. Daryl

Was the temperature outside below 32 degrees?

Bob, maybe in the high 20s.

Interesting as I was once walking along-side a small stream in a gully with about 12 inches of snow covering when a Heron flew down the gully and the snow erupted with Red Grouse which had been hiding below. The heron was no real threat to them but I guess that its gliding flight reminded them of some sort of large bird of prey. I would have had no idea the grouse were there and I suppose that I would have been able to walk past quite oblivious but for the heron. Lagopus.....

While hunting grouse in Michigan one December winter, one flushed from under the snow in front of me. I felt my heart stop ! Changed my underwear afterwards back at the vehicle.
Karl

Perhaps it was warmer buried in the snow than being exposed?

Bob,
That's why they hunker down for sure. When you first encounter a flush like that for the first time, it's an eye opener!
Karl

When I hunted ptarmigan and ruffed grouse in the interior of Alaska during the late winter months, snow flushes were a pretty common event. No dog needed, follow the tracks until they stopped (ptarmigan would usually be in a patch of willows, ruffies would normally be under a tree) start walking around like you’re trying to flush a bird out of the grass. Hopefully when they do flush, they don’t kick up so much snow as to obscure your view when trying to put the gun on them. Easier said than done.

Outside of Haines I watched a beautiful red fox walking down the side of the highway, totally oblivious to my rattle can diesel truck following him, he veered off into a patch of willows and about 20 ptarmigan burst out of the snow (very cold wind swept morning, snow was smooth as concrete), the fox watched where the birds let down (about 30 yards into another willow patch), I stopped the truck and got out to take some pics, and watched the fox maneuver around to try and get into position to make a go at them…..I walked in for a pic of the ptarmigan that were now on high alert, though they could care less about me and were looking for the fox…..I got too close and the birds flushed and this time left the country. The fox stood about 50 yards out and just stared at me, and I swear, gave me a dirty look. I knew exactly what was going through his mind. I felt like a jerk.
I have pictures somewhere of this entire event. If I can find them I’ll post them.

I haven't seen partridge do this, but I'm not surprised.

I have seen sharptails do this numerous times. Once there is snow cover they frequently have a dusk "last flight" where a loose flock will crash into the snow burying themselves for the night. The main theories are that this both insulates them from nighttime lows, and blocks scent release to predators with noses. I've also had sharptails flush midday from beneath a foot of undisturbed snow (it had snowed overnight) atop a wheat field, and upon investigation found actual lateral tunnels up to two feet long where undoubtedly the birds were feeding on waste grain entirely out-of-sight. A foot of snow still gets some light penetration, so the grouse were probably just finding the grain by sight after getting familiar with the field before snowfall.

That is cool when they do that. That little borough in the snow they make keeps them warmer then the below freezing air.

Climbers use snow caves for protection, Alaskan trappers would hollow out a bed in the snow using caribou pelts as ground and top cover , enjoying relative comfort. Similar for partridge, I'd wager. I know , when hunting partridge in Canada we would find them on the wind protected side of old agricultural buildings. They dislike the wind and I assume yesterday, when some drifting was going on, their "burrows" in the snow kept the wind off. The thing that amazed me was how they fearlessly dove into the snow from full flight. If it had been me flying, I would have checked the snow depth and condition before diving in.

I was bird hunting in Ga in the 60s and we had a rare snow and dogs pointed and a bobwhite burst out of the snow and startled me! I hope i did not kill it as i cannot remember. Bobby

It doesn't snow much in GA. When it does I've always tried to get out in it. I once walked into a covey of Bobwhite quail buried in the snow while tracking a buck. Wow!...Geo

We had 14" snow, on flat ground, here in the early '70s .......... January '73, I think.

It has happened to me several times in my few trips to Nebraska in late season. Pretty fun and I generally make a couple of misses out of what should be easy shots when it does. That said a covey flush in the snow seems to be strung out a bit more in time than without snow, so reload and be ready for the straggler. That's my best strategy to date.

I remember that one, Stan. I was stationed at the Infantry School, Fort Benning. I had the weekend off and a wife waiting in south GA. Only way I got out of Columbus was to follow a semi and stay in its tracks...Geo

Years ago, my brother and I were hunting the fencerows of our farm on a bitterly cold morning after a night of blowing snow. There sticking out of a snow drift was the tail-end of cock pheasant. We both thought it was frozen in place, so my brother grabbed the tail feathers to pull it out. We were shocked when the pheasant started cackling and beating the air with its wings. In all the excitement, my brother tossed the rooster into the air, and I managed to drop it dead on the corn stubble. Sort of a farmboy version of a columbaire pigeon shot.

Quite common here to see Gray Partridge do the opposite. When a blizzard begins, they go to short grain stubble or dug ground on hilltops and huddle together, presumably to avoid being covered by hard packed snow. Meanwhile the pheasants die in lower areas with their beaks open and heads stuffed with snow.
During one bad blizzard I had a covey of starving partridge come up to the bird feeders on my deck. One died there in a hole left by my boots. Just another bad day for the sharptails, however, but they are semi-migratory in the northern Great Plains and will move hundreds of miles south if conditions get too extreme. On one winter hunt, we saw a flock of about 150 assemble, wheel around a big wetland till they got about a hundred yards high and then disappear to the southeast. We found they were in the dry bottom feeding on dead snails.

Never seen a pheasant die with its beak wide open and stuffed with snow. Never. Sounds pretty odd and we have hunted them a lot of miles in all sorts of winter conditions.

Ice has always seemed like the big killer to me - for any wildlife.

I’ve come across several coveys of dead quail frozen in their roost in an ice storm. Very sad sight. Very sad. Ice is very hard on my little friends. Been thinking about trying to make a bit of habitat for a couple coveys. If you fail, fail, fail you might as well fail again and I just love to hear old bob calling in an evening.

Me too, brother, me too. Late spring and early summer I can sit on my patio in the late evening and often hear up to three at one time calling, within a hundred yards of my backyard. It just makes my heart feel good.

Daryl, we have had 12-15 in our yard here in bozeman, several days this week. the 18 month old grandson loves to see them.

sometimes they burrow behind the house and sometimes they go under one of the two large fir trees out front, and then later the group will walk single file over to the other tree. really pretty to watch. sometimes the mule deer and the bunnies are in the yard at the same time.

gotta love it around here !

also, i still have some unusued 12 ga pinfire cases to give you. keep planning to call, but have had medical problems and been in and out of hospital several times. doing well now. maybe we can rendezvous during this holiday season.

I've seen Huns kicked up by a hawk fly full speed into powder snow, completely burrying themselves. Maybe, there can be a survival component to that behavior.

Today the partridge, 21 count, were right next to the house , eating in the winter lawn. I think the pictures are fairly big, so one can expand them to see the markings. This is the fourth day we have seen them, but we surely weren't looking each day, so we must have missed some visits.

This is so cool to see! Thanks for sharing!

Thursday we saw a covey of Gray's and a covey of Sharptails on the gravel road. Snow covers the countryside. Question always becomes "graveling or finding spilled grain?" Freezing rain tonight, so not good for either activity.