When I came down for breakfast this morning, I couldn’t believe it……..
…….he has brought a friend!!!
He obviously doesn’t consider the second pheasant a threat to his territory as they haven’t been fighting, they just seem very friendly!
Does this mean I have to double the barricades?!
Soon there will be a squadron!
Oh Rachel, I really do hope not!
Plan B?
Plan B Jessica was some children’s windmills that I saw in our local garden centre. They would make the woodland look a bit naff, but who cares as long as my fritillaries are protected!
Man! What should I say? Eat them.
Sigrun
I don’t know Sigrun, I will have to wait and see what happens.
I would almost be tempted to agree with Sigrun and go for the casserole! What happened to the white one Pauline? Did she ever turn up again?
I’m afraid a fox got the white one last year Rosemarie, she made a nest in a neighbours woodland and one day there was just a pile of white feathers left.
This friend is not a lady friend, is it? If not, perhaps a member of his family…at any rate, yes, you need to double the barricades or whatever you can do to keep them from eating your fritillaries or other plants! Sigrun’s suggestion to eat them is tempting but I don’t think I could do it.
No Deb, the females are plain brown so that they aren’t easy to see when sitting on their nest. Even if it was a relative, the males would normally fight to defend their territory. I don’t think I could “do the deed” either, I’ll just have to try and outwit them!
I don’t envy you Pauline! Good luck with plans B – through to D whatever they entail.
What about a yappy wee dog, or is that plan T?
I don’t think I could stand a yappy dog Angie! When we had our dog we didn’t have any cats or pheasants in the garden, they soon found out that the garden was dog free when she died, and have been visiting ever since.
Oh no – double trouble Pauline! I wonder what you will see when you open the curtains tomorrow morning. Have you got a large casserole dish? 🙂
So far, nothing this morning, thank goodness Anna! Yes I do have a nice large dish, maybe just showing it to the pheasant will do the trick!
Oh dear. I hope he isn’t going to bring the whole family! Keep us posted Pauline!
I hope not too Cathy, the fritillaries wouldn’t stand a chance! I will certainly keep you all posted with whatever the latest news is!
Oh no!!!!! If all else fails maybe leave some seed out for them, at least that will keep them off your plants, it works for me when the pheasants visit.xxx
I feel that if I leave seed out for him Dina, that will only encourage him, then he would bring the whole family to the garden!
LOL! Oh God, Pauline! Maybe he’s been scared by the view of the rusty one and went call another friend to give him some help and wind back HIS garden! 🙂
You know when you have a good lunch somewhere you’ll always remember that place and go back every time you could! Good luck with your fritillaries!
Yes, Alberto, maybe you’re right, he had to go for some support. He does act as if he owns the garden, somehow I didn’t think pheasants would be able to remember from one year to the next, I don’t even know if it is the same pheasant as last year!
Maybe you could just borrow that yappy dog for a few hours a week?
I wished I had one the other day when a strange large white cat got one of the blackbirds feeding in my cherry tree. I was too slow to catch it or even chuck water over it, but I am ready if I ever see it again.
Sorry to hear about your Blackbirds Annette, not nice when that happens. There was a time in our previous house when we had far too many cats visiting the garden, so we always had a full water pistol by the back door, it worked, eventually not many cats came visiting.
Any possibility they are only passing through!? I hope Mr. fox takes an interest in the pair, one was plenty…
good luck
Unfortunately not Frank, the pheasants are with us all year but they mainly stay on the fields next to us. It is just this time of year that they come into the gardens looking for something juicy to eat!
Wow, and soon there will be a girlfirends on sight too! And then there are four of them!
Oh, and did I mention little chicks that follow after these get togethers? 😀
Thanks Tistou, that’s all I need! The trouble is they don’t just have one girlfriend, I’ve often seen one male followed by a dozen females, goodness knows how many babies would be produced each year!
Then thank God, we don’t have them here in Estonia. And lucky for us, wood pigeons are so shy here, they never visit gardens. Same species, completely different behaviour. Our robins tend to be somewhat shyer too. It is probably because of vast forest areas and very thin human population.
We have wood pigeons who are building a nest in the garden at the moment in our Pittosporum. I was about to reshape its top, but now will have to wait until the chicks have hatched and left their nest. I don’t mind them in the garden, at least they don’t eat my flowers! Robins are so very friendly over here, they seem to think that my main job is to dig up worms and other wriggly creatures for it to eat. We have one that will come and eat sunflower seeds from my hand, I think he has me well trained!
maybe the casserole is a good idea, but I do think these birds are very decorative. Their decorativenss of course needs to be balanced against the decorativeness of the fritillaries!
Don’t worry Catmint, the casserole wasn’t a serious suggestion! They are beautiful birds, but now is the only time they eat my flowers in the garden, later in the year the flowers seem quite safe, even though the pheasants are still strutting round the garden.
What more can I say….? 🙁 🙂
There’s not a lot anyone can say! Today though, just one in the garden and I found a few pheasant feathers, maybe it was just having a scratch?!
Ugh. They are so beautiful though… just like the bunnies that have been devouring my new bushes are so cute… Amazing how having your flowers/shrubbery attacked can strike a gardener to the heart!
It seems to just be the fritillaries Julie, that he attacks, he doesn’t eat all the flowers, just takes a bite out of each one as he passes and I’m left with a horrible mess! When we were starting the garden here, rabbits were eating all my lovely new plants but eventually the neighbours cats made them move away by catching all their babies!
Oh dear, they will be bringing their girlfriends next and then their children. Where will it all end?
That’s what I’m dreading Chloris! So far today, I have just seen one, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
They’d make a lovely pair of bookends in your library or perhaps flanking a fireplace…
They would, would,’t they, but I think they know that they are safe from that fate!