When I look through my photos I can usually tell which month I’m looking at by the colours. November is dominated by brown. But it’s not any old sludgy brown. Oh no! It’s more of a rich chestnut colour with golden orangey browns plus bronze and coppery tints.
Wild pheasants eat seeds, grains and shoots. When their food supply becomes scarce in autumn and winter they often visit our garden to take advantage of any wild bird seed that has fallen from our bird table. They are quite timid birds by nature but hunger forces them to be brave. The females are attractive birds with pale brown feathers. Male pheasants are simply stunning. The markings on their feathers are amazing and they seem to be in every shade of brown and gold that you can imagine.
You would think that those feathers would stand out in the green and pleasant British countryside wouldn’t you? Well they do in summer time. Drive along any country lane through the grassy hills around here and you’ll spot pheasants galore clustered together in the fields. The collective noun for a group of pheasants is a bouquet. You may also hear them referred to as a nide or a nye or even a bevy.
Pheasants are game birds and are bred for shooting. When danger threatens they take shelter in woodland, hedgerows and copses. Anything on the other side of the roadside hedge don’t seem to bother them so you can usually have a good look at them from your car without scaring them off. In gardens they will take advantage of evergreen bushy shrubs such as Holly to hide underneath when they are frightened.
In autumn the birds blend in with all the colours in the natural environment. That makes them quite hard to spot… but that’s quite a good thing in the shooting season I think! Today I’m linking with Judith at Lavender Cottage Gardening for her Monday Mosaic Blog event. Feel free to join in or just visit for a peek.
Have the glorious shades of autumn arrived in your garden yet?
Gorgeous images! Love the beautiful golden glow! And the pheasants are fantastic!
Thanks very much Jandi.
Beautiful bird! I’ve never seen one before. Thanks for posting!
They are gorgeous aren’t they. I believe they were brought here from China possibly when the Romans invaded us around 2000 years ago. It’s big business now. Game shooting here in the UK is thought to bring about £2 billion into the economy. We don’t shoot but around here there are plenty of farmers who improve their land with new copses and hedgerows just so they can enjoy shooting game birds on their day off.
This post reminds me that as a child I had pheasants that were eventually penned at my aunt’s. As some point their feathers became a hat she created. I wonder what ever happened to that hat.
Thank goodness we don’t wear feathers in our hats these days. I would much rather see them on the birds wouldn’t you?
Hi Jillian
I’ve seen wild pheasants only once here eating the salt on the side of the road and didn’t realize how unique their camouflage capabilities were until you’ve shown surroundings with the same colours as their feathers.
They are amazing aren’t they?
Pheasants are such beautiful birds. There is a wildlife mgt. area a couple miles up the road that stocks them in the fall for hunting, poor things. What the hunters don’t get, the foxes, coyotes and hawks finish off. Doesn’t seem fair. But native to China, they aren’t really adapted to our cold and snowy winters.
Here in the UK many landowners take great care to improve the environment for game birds. That has a knock on effect of providing food and shelter for other wild creatures. As most of our native wild creatures have declining populations this has got to be a good thing.
Agreed.
The Autumn colours have been fantastic this year Gillian. They are still going strong with the beech trees looking at their best just now.
It has been a brilliant autumn so far Annette. We have gale force winds today so I don’t know how long the leaves will stay on the trees!
Oh dear – stay warm!
What a beautiful collective noun. Bouquet. How apt. We have a good few pheasants here. Couple of years ago a hen nested in the Orchard. They camouflage so perfectly and sit so still that you don’t see them until you’ve almost stepped on them. And even then, only because she’ll move at that stage. Nearly gave me a heart attack!
We had a white one here at one stage. Think she had escaped from a gun club.
I’ve heard them called a bevy before but not a bouquet. It is a lovely way to describe them isn’t it. Lucky you having them nest in your garden. They must feel safe there.
I love seeing critters in fall as they blend so perfectly with the surrounds….we see pheasants rarely here.
You have so many other lovely wild animals though Donna!
Pheasants, such glorious looking birds and I also like that you used leaves that were not perfect, beautiful post~
Pheasants are gorgeous birds aren’t they? And as for perfect leaves in autumn… well there’s no such thing in my garden!