Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 11th March, 2016)

A great pic Rev. Wonderful plumeage!
Reminds me of my uncle who was once employed in a poultry factory as a pheasant plucker!

Ise the MAN.

That is a welcome visitor. Well caught.

As was said in the introduction to `The Two Fat Ladies` on TV -`Doesn`t the pheasant look pleasant.`
Extract from:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_pheasant
"The word pheasant is derived from the ancient town of Phasis, the predecessor of the modern port city of Poti in Western Georgia.
It is a well-known gamebird, among those of more than regional importance perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the whole world. The common pheasant is one of the world's most hunted birds; it has been introduced for that purpose to many regions, and is also common on game farms where it is commercially bred. Ring-necked pheasants in particular are commonly bred and were introduced to many parts of the world;....."
How long did he stay for, Rev.David?

Sir Peter Moores of Parbold Hall introduced pheasant to the Douglas valley so he and his shooting friends could shoot them.

The brilliant colours of the pheasant and the lovely snowdrops -a winning combination!

Sir Percy, as we call him, first arrived at lunchtime last Wednesday, and stayed for a couple of hours. He arrived again this Tuesday - arriving mid-morning, and staying until late afternoon. Then he came back yesterday and was here for a few hours again. My wife saw him fly in yesterday, landing awkwardly on next door's lawn, and hopping over the fence into our garden later. I've seen and heard shooters around Standish Hall Farm, so I guess he comes from the Elnup Woods area. As there are a couple of rows of houses between us and the fields below, and they don't usually fly very far or high, he's obviously having to make quite an effort to reach us.

Ee by gum, Johnny: there`s no `e` in plumage.
Had a good laugh at your comment on 8th March 2016 at 23:11 which is on 6th March 2016 Photo-a-Day.

We have one visits us everyday.checks below our bird feeder and also has a meal with our Pet goose, along with other welcome and unwelcome feathered species( A Cormorant once)

Thanks Ernest...I had two comments that day!
A day is dull without a laugh!

Rev David, I get lots of them in the garden. They first arrived over twenty years ago when seed fell off the bird feeders. They can become quite tame if you have the patience and want them to stay. Most of them hens and cocks will feed from my hand. I have one named Humphrey he has escaped the guns for four years up to now. If he does ever end up on someones plate I'm sure he will be as tough as an old boot and taste of peanuts.

We used to have one that did daily visits when out of season, it was tame, for want of a word, if we had let it be, for it already knew that humans were a source of food being captive bred.
We always used to look out for him, I called him Hardy Kruger - after 'The One That Got Away'. It was always great to see that he had evaded them for another season, good on yer Hardy Kruger!

Nothing and no one can emulate nature. This is a superb photograph Rev Long - you've captured a lovely snapshot of Spring!

Thank you

Why anybody would want to shoot and eat a beautiful bird like that beats me.

He's lovely!

No sign of Sir Percy today - but we had our first visit here of a reed bunting.

Such clarity - as has been aid beautiful plumage, also details shown in the rest of the photo especially the snowdrops. Aren't we so blessed to have such beauty in the world

Belter.

One very similar to this paid me a visit this morning where I live in East Yorkshire. First of all it was sat on the garden fence and then dropped down into my garden to look for forage. Beautiful sight.