Nature Notes

Brin Best

Wharfedale Naturalists’ Society

TWO partridges made a seasonal appearance in our neighbourhood last week, as if to remind us that they like to play their traditional part in the Christmas story.

According to the familiar Yuletide song, these tubby little gamebirds are associated with pear trees. But last week, as they flew over the oak trees near our house, they were heading for their favourite feeding areas within sight of the river Wharfe.

The grey partridge is one of two members of this small gamebird family which occur in Britain - the other being the red-legged or French partridge, which was introduced from France in the 18th century.

We see small numbers of grey partridges in the fields around our house, but they are never a common sight. We mostly encounter them in pairs or small coveys - the collective name for a group of partridges. They are usually quick to take flight when they spot us, their scolding, cackling calls adding to the sense of annoyance at our intrusion into their domain.

I peered over the dry stone wall that separates our suburban world from the open countryside of Weston Park. And there in the corner of the field were the partridges, looking pleasing in their rotund form as they pecked about in the stubble.

Despite the bland name for the species, the plumage of the grey partridge is a delicate blend of grey, orange and brown, with a chocolate smudge or inverted horseshoe on the belly.

I was reminded, as I watched these birds which have declined sharply in the UK during my lifetime, that grey partridges have been hunted for the pot for hundreds of years on our islands. More recent intensification of agriculture has taken a heavy toll on this gamebird.

I kept quiet and still, and soon the birds began to settle down, allowing me to watch them go about their morning routines. Much time was spent looking out for predators between feeding pecks, and at one point an overflying sparrowhawk caused them to press themselves into the soil. For a few seconds birds became part of the earth.

There’s no doubt that 2016 has been another wonderful nature year for me, full of new and interesting observations; filled with beauty in colour, shape and sound.

As I watched those little gamebirds, so typical of the English countryside, I knew my Christmas was going to be complete. Because I’d seen a partridge in a pair of binoculars.

wharfedale-nats.org.uk