Hungry Hen

Phasianus colchicus

Imagine my surprise when I returned from this morning's walk to hear a flurry of wings and catch sight of a pheasant clumsily taking to the wing from my garden. This was a first sighting in my garden and I have lived here for about 20 years.

Very excitedly I cleaned the dogs' feet and then waited in the conservatory, with my camera at the ready, to see if it would come back .... and eventually it did and it was a female hen pheasant. She was picking up seed which had fallen from the feeders above and although the picture isn't brilliant as it is taken through glass I think you can see her markings quite well. Within seconds of taking this shot she must have seen me and took off and hasn't returned!

However, at last I have an entry for the interesting and informative BlipBigYear Challenge. . If you want to see the head markings better try viewing it on large.

The following is courtesy of Google:-
The Common Pheasant is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). It is native to Asia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives occur such as in Europe (where it is naturalized), it is simply known as the "pheasant". The word pheasant is derived from the ancient town of Phasis, the predecessor of the modern port city of Poti in Western Georgia.