Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Ring Necked Pheasant


Pharley is the name of our ring-necked pheasant. I say "our" because he and his hen, Phiona, are so often in our backyard, eating the sunflower seeds which have fallen from our bird feeders. (We named them Pharley and Phiona, the Pheasant Phamily, and are hoping to see some little ones this year. Now, the whole neighbourhood is now calling them by their names!)  

Pharley squawks and beats his wings in the air when he is eating to scare off the other very tiny birds so that he has total control of the ground. When he beats the air, it really sounds like the rotors on a helicopter. 



I am just getting packed up to go out for the day when I saw that Pharley was here, so I shot a few pictures. He has amazing hearing, so if I go out of the house at all, he is gone in a flash! Therefore, I have to take pictures of him through the glass in the door. Quietly sneaking up to the window , I shot maybe 5 or 6 pics. when he stood up and turned around, then haughtily strutted away.


If you click on this pic, I think you will see that he knew I was there all along. He turned and looked directly at me, probably annoyed I had disturbed his feeding time! 

Sorry Pharley. :-)

7 comments:

Kim said...

Oh my goodness, what on earth are you going to name the babies? Phinneas, Philemon, Philip, Phoebe...What a PHUN little bright spot in your day. I hope the PHAMILY is still there when we arrive. It would be utterly PHABULOUS to see them in 'person.'

Unknown said...

Wow! Thanks for the suggestions for names!!! Hopefully there won't be more than the 4 you suggested... otherwise it might be phairly hard to phind phenomenal names phor the rest of the phamily! :-)

Pharley and Phiona have been around now for 2 years, so I am really hoping they will be here when you arrive in July 2010 (or sooner would be nice).

Anonymous said...

Great series and lovely stewardship to have a bird family in your yard.
Kims' name suggestions are phitting indeed.

Having had parakeets and parrots but no longer, I can say it's far better to watch birds in the wild and welcome them on their terms.

Unknown said...

I agree with you Bonnie. Wild birds are so much easier to care for... a birdbath of water and black oil sunflower seeds... it keeps the birds happy, the deer who also come and steal seed, and Mr. P. who is our resident porcupine. He waddles up through the trees in the evening (when our dogs are already in their kennels for the night) and finishes up whatever is left over after the other creatures have had their fill. We also had a squirrel this spring, but the dogs have successfully chased it away! We didn't name it as we were hoping it wouldn't stick around.

Anonymous said...

He is gorgeous!

I love his and his family's names. ;-)

Paz

Unknown said...

Hi Paz,

He has absolutely the most beautiful bird markings I have ever seen! Truly - unbelievable!

We've grown fond of our Pharley, even when he squawks at 6:00 and beats his wings against the air. We think he is just as good as a rooster - maybe even better!

Anni Jones Photography said...

We used to have so many of these beautiful birds where I live.I don't hear them or see them much anymore.We really miss them.
We even thought about raising some.
Phantastic...or I mean fantastic photos Joanne! :)