Pheasants

Kathleen
- June 17, 2002

Hello Dan,Thanks so much for writing to me in regard to my cardinal family. Since we've talked the babies have flown from the nest and moved elsewhere with their parents. I feel fortunate that my family and I were there to witness so many amazing things through the cardinals. They've taught me what it means to be truely committed to family and I am very thankful for the experience of their lives.Amazingly, my bird watching fortune did not stop there. One lucky summer I have had. First of all, I live in a very urban part of town and near a very busy intersection. For some reason a lone female pheasant decided to make a nest in one of my shrubs in front of the house. My husband came upon her when he was blowing leaves from the front yard and happened to see her eyes and tail. Even with the loud motor, she never budged. For weeks we checked in on her. My husband could even part the branches and be a foot away from her head and she would only look up at us and blink. We never saw her come and go for food at dusk and dawn and at times we were very worried that she was dying. To our amazement, we peaked in one morning to find a clutch of 6 eggs and she was nowhere to be found. That evening I left my wired hair fox terrier out in the back yard and soon she found the pheasant in some foliage. I had to pull her away quickly and finally the female flew away to safety as I put the dog inside. Soon after that we could hear little peeping sounds in the foliage. Before we knew it, 5 little chicks were running around frantically looking for their momma. It was like the childrens book "Are You My Mother" by P. D. Eastman. They would run up to my daughter and I, trying to determine if we were remotely like her. We had our video camera and were fortunate to capture the event on film. The mother did fly back into our backyard and collected her little ones which we also caught on film. They were so happy to see each other and they disappeared into the neighbors yard and we haven't seen them since.Life is good and priceless around our home. We've been given a gift to enjoy for a long time.Thanks for listening,Kathleen