Late this afternoon, I looked out the window and saw some rocks above the
snow in the neighboring wheat field where I didn't remember seeing rocks
before. I checked with the binos. One of the rocks appeared to have a
head. Out came the spotting scope.

The rocks morphed into 4 Gray Partridges, hunkered down in the snow in the
wide-open field with no cover closer than a hundred feet. They periodically
tucked a head under a wing and napped. If I were a partridge on the Palouse
in winter when raptors are as common as sparrows, I'd feel awfully
conspicuous napping in a white field. Maybe they were counting on the hawks
to mistake them for rocks, too.

None of my photos turned out very well. I posted the best one of two of the
partridges at:

http://users.pullman.com/lostriver/gray_partridge.htm

Kelly Cassidy
Pullman WA