• Thursday-What'sUP February 19 - 08:00 pm

Rick Baetsen recently received a call from a good friend of his that lives on the eastern end of the U.P., saying that he had spotted some Ruffed Grouse that were feeding on Highbush Cranberries near a swamp, in the Pickford area. That's all Rick needed to hear and he was on his way there to try to capture them on film, as he's been photographing Ruffed Grouse for a number of years, but has never had the opportunity to do so while they were feeding on this fruit. He was able to sit there and snap photos from his van window for over a half hour, with some near perfect morning light.

Rick has shared Grouse pictures with us back in our Archives, when he visited George and Paulette Beveridge to snap of few shots of the bird that is a regular visitor at their place in Bootjack. Today's last two photos were taken on one of those visits. One using a mirror to capture both sides of the bird at the same time and the other when George's friend was strutting his stuff.

So that brings me to my original question on the Pasty Cam page... Is this a Ruffed Grouse or a Partridge, as it's commonly called here in the U.P.? Or is a little of both?

Well, is it looking for a pear tree? If so, it would most certainly be a partridge!

It's a partridge in a "bare" tree....

You guys are so funny!!! When I first saw the pictures, the first thing I thought of was a pear. But those berries look nothing like pears, lol. Great shots anyway.

If it answers to Shirley, Keith, Laurie, Danny....it's a Partridge.

These birds look raptor-like.

Wow, I love the mirror shot. I would never have thought to do that. If Rick is out there -- how long did it take the bird to get used to the mirror, enough to approach it like that? Did you have to put it far away so you didn't spook the little guy?

Mary, Thanks so much for the pictures. George's partridge answers to "pretty bird". If I'm not mistaken he has been a friend of George's for 2 years. The bird is quite a dandy. He lets you feed him from your hand and doesn't seem to be camera shy.

What's the difference? Once, while hiking with a friend who originally hailed from Pennsylvania, we scared up a bird. I called it a partridge. He called it a grouse. I asked what was the difference. He said, "Local yokels call it a partridge."

While "exploring" up the hill from Hubbell as a kid we would go "pat hunting"...slangy youth talk

Thats the crazy bird we saw hiking last summer. I think it was acting injured to draw us away from the nest since we probably were too close to it on the trail. It scared the H out of Sammy & I and was from there out referred to as the possessed bird. After we were done screaming it took us a while to stop laughing.

I don't think anyone would argue with this , but hunters can call them what they want at the start of the hunt as as long as they can call them dinner by the end of the day.

Technically, it is a ruffled grouse (bonasa umbellus) but lots of people call it a "pat" or "partridge". My personal opinion is that it is called a "ruffled grouse" because it will definately "ruffle" your nerves if it takes flight near you. The sudden and noisy explosion it makes when it takes off will cause you to jump up in the air and holler @#%^* or &%@*%! or #@^!*

I was crestfallen when I learned that what I thought was a partridge was a ruffed grouse, that there was no such thing as a "popple" tree, but instead was a poplar, and that in the west, they call a tamarack a larch. I am holding firm to my conviction that we were right and the rest of the world is just wrong. Heck, they can't even figure out how to put the UP on a map, so how can they be right about a partridge?

Richard - I agree with you 100%. It still irks me that way back in about 1964 or 68 Walter Cronkite showed a map of the U.S. and forgot all about the U.P. The next day CBS News had a large map with the U.P. outlined with stars!

Awesome photo's

Glad that some folks enjoyed the photos of one of my favorite birds. I have been spending time with and filming the ruffed grouse and Michigan's two other grouse species (the spruce grouse and sharp-tailed grouse in the upper peninsula for over thirty years.

D. Clark, "Pretty Bird" accepted the mirror right away when it was presented, but then it is a special bird with unique behavior traits. It is a research technique used to trap the male birds in the spring and I was hoping it might get the bird to display. The bird did not display, but did take interest in his reflection.

Latin name as stated above is Bonasa umbellus, with the umbellus word in Latin meaning umbrella, for the special feathers on the birds neck that fluff or spread out like an umbrella during its courtship display.

My many thanks to Mary for putting up the original photos and story of George and Paulette Beveridge's partridge and thanks to to the Beveridge's for sharing their special bird and allowing me to spend time and film it over the past two years.

Rick Baetsen

Great partridge pics. Is there a pear tree around 4 him 2 perch on? (lol)

great photos and notes today -- thanks

If you go to foxnews.com then scroll down to the Sci-Tech section and find the story,'Suspected Extinct Bird Found, photographed, eaten'

If you find it-it is a pretty bird.

Is the ruffled grouse the bird that makes the drumming sound that I hear in the spring?

Mark -- I think so, and yes, that sound scares the daylights out of me every time I'm out in the forest on my own!

Mary says: You're right, Dave and Mark...if you click on this link (turn up your speakers): Ruffed Grouse, you can listen to the "drumming" sound it makes.