I often read a bit of Monty Don's book of snippets about wild life and nature when I am waiting for J to come to start me off for the day. This morning I read his thoughts on Pheasants and it made me realise that this week end is the R S P B's Big Garden Bird Watch week end. I have always fed the birds and always done their Bird Watch until I moved here but now the rooms where I spend time in daylight hours are on the front of the house where there is just a lawn and there is constant traffic and pedestrians - not the ideal place for bird feeders. Also my poor mobility makes doing so just another hazard. I miss doing it but I don.t see all that many birds in my garden apart from blackbirds, robins, a wren who can usually be seen under the hedge. And there are a few cats who use it as their daily walk through. We always did it at the farm. But the article by Monty reminded me of an incident which happened in our front garden at the farm. The garde n was not all that big and a porch stuck out into it from the front door. In the corner of the garden, and climbing up the porch was a clematis - a perfect hiding spot. One day the farmer came in and beckoned me out into the front garden and there, behind the clematis, tucked into the corner was a nest with fourteen eggs in it and no sign of a bird. But later in the day Mrs Pheasant was there, sitting there, low and watchful. We avoided the area as much as we could, asked the Postie to bring the mail to the back door and waited. And then -one morning - there she was on the lawn with fourteen tiny chicks. She stayed there for a couple of days so she must have felt safe. And during those days I worried about how they were going to get out - it was a walled garden and the gate had only a very small space under it. Then on the third day they had gone. We concluded that she had flown over the wall and then encouraged the babies to go under the gate.
Then next year there was another nest there and egg after egg was laid but we never saw a Mrs Pheasant and the eggs were deserted. They didn't last long as one by one they were picked off and eaten - often the shells were left as evidence of the thefts. Was it the same bird? We shall never know but we were quite disappointed when we didn't have babies on the lawn.
If you are doing the Big Garden Bird Watch this week end do enjoy it. I hope the weather stays fine so that you get a good mix of birds.
.JPG)
22 comments:
It is too early for the bird migrations here - it will be mid-March before things start - but - Lockdown and daily walks as our only entertainment has certainly made everyone much more aware of all the birds that live here - even in the middle of Winter.
I am very lucky to live near to many parks and ravines - especially along the Humber river and along the shores of Lake Ontario - all within 10 minutes drive of home. Swans and all kinds of ducks and geese are in the waters. Red tail hawks are spotted daily and the cardinals seem to be especially prolific this year! There are a couple of really good spots where we will be able to view even more once Spring arrives and I'm really looking forward to it.
Once the State of Emergency here is eased a bit and we can drive a bit further, my "bubble" friend and I have a few other spots in mind, all within an easy 1 hour drive of the city. One is Crieff Hills - it's a religious retreat - open to everyone - with wonderful hiking trails and they participate in one of the bird migration counts each year so we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to go this year.
Stay safe.
Oh dear Pat, I think we're both going to use that book as a source of inspiration for some time ahead, it hits so many forgotten memories.
We had a lot more rain overnight here and the marshes and low-lying areas are submerged in huge areas of flood water and with 9 hrs heavy rain forecast for tomorrow morning, things could get quite serious.
When I was working for a park service in Indiana, we had bluebird trails - sets of bluebird boxes - in several of our parks. One of our volunteers was working on the boxes getting them ready for the nesting season when he nearly stepped on a woodcock, a short-legged water bird with a long bill, beautifully colored to blend in with the fallen leaves and brambles she was sitting among. We knew we had woodcock doing their display flights in that park, but this one had decided to nest there. We watched her the next week or so. Then one morning, there were just egg shells; the eggs had hatched and she and her brood had moved on into the marsh. But I'll never forget her large dark eyes just watching us so carefully, but she just would not move off that nest.
It must have been wonderful to witness Mother Pheasant and her little ones! The following year was unfortunate - but whoever ate the eggs (could have been squirrels) was happy.
That's a charming story about your pheasant and babies! What a nice memory to share! I am not good at identifying birds and would be useless at any bird watch.
It sounds like something happened to the mum the 2nd year? Hence the abandoned nest. Or perhaps an immature bird who wasn't clued up enoughto nest safely.
When we had poultry (we had 20 - 30 hens, 30 - 40 ducks and geese) and amongst their number were a trio of Muscovy Ducks. One of them, Mathilda, disappeared for a while and we were convinced a fox had gotten her. The farmer next door beckoned me one day, and took me to his bull-pen, where, in the straw in one corner, were a clutch of Muscovy eggs with a proud mama Muscovy in attendance. Finally, when they were hatched, she led them back to our top yard through deep mud, cow sh*t and puddles (poor little dabs!)
I have never taken part in the Bird Watch but we did feed our garden birds regularly and had visits from pied and green woodpeckers, thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, various tits and finches, and many more. I think we had a resident wren and robin too. Now all I see are crows, seagulls, jackdaws and magpies, though I have heard a wren and a robin. I love your story of the pheasant and her babies. Sad that they never returned.
Back in our animal rescue days we received a call that a pheasant hen may have been injured along the commuter train tracks. We found a deceased hen and after a further search we found a nest of eggs. We gathered them all and brought them home, we hatched them out in an incubator on the kitchen table. The chicks are very mobile right after hatching and so small. Happy to say they all survived and we released them in a local bird sanctuary.
I love you pheasant story. I am going to guess something 'got' her the second year.
I've tried to do the bird watch a few times but the birds stay away when I do. Maybe I will try again and be lucky.
I've done the Christmas bird count for close to 50 years covering the same area It's fun.
How wonderful it must have been to have the pheasant and her sweet babies! We have a deck that extends from our back door and I have a bird feeder hanging on the far side of that. The birds are not shy about going to it and I can add food more easily since it is not far from the door. We love watching them but do have to chase a few squirrels away.
The bird count was fun when I had grandchildren. Now I only have sparrows.
I remember the pheasant story.
When our Quail hatch the babies there are 8 to 10. The bad news is the Roadrunners pick the little one off and you see less and less little ones. I know it is Mother Nature but they are so tiny and cute.
I am not anti-hunting, but I do wish our local lads would declare an amnesty on both Pheasants and Red Deer. The Pheasants are released each year; then shot. I cannot understand why they don't give them about five years to breed and multiply, then be sensible about how many they shoot. As for Red Deer, they are such magnificent animals, and one hardly sees them at all any more. They should leave them alone and only go for the Roe Deer that are everywhere.
A dreadful day to be hoping for birds in the garden here. I used to do the Garden Bird Watch with one of the young men I cared for at the school, he learned more in a couple of hours walking around the school garden than he ever admitted to in class!
Doc - I absoluely love your story.
Many things eat eggs in nests left 'unattended' = all the crow family for a start and thn squirrels of course
And rats and hedgehogs. Glad to hear you are reading Monty Don, or any other book come to that, whilst waiting for your helper to come in the morning.
A few years ago I had a cock pheasant visit every day. I put out peanuts for it. After a few days it was brave enough to stand by the back door waiting for me to put some peanuts on the grass.
Rachel - I no longer have to wait for my Carer as I can do so many things myself. I am waiting for my trolley with trays and brakes - that should make life a lot easier
Your pheasant story is delightful. Last year I saw a wild turkey with her 12 young. When one baby walked off the mother called out then ran to the other side of my property to bring the wandering babe back to the fold.
I am 70 years old in southern Iowa, USA. My husband and I watch birds, deer and any wildlife, really. Last summer for the first time ever!! We saw a Mama skunk crossing the road -- with 7 little ones waddling behind her.
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