August 06, 2011: Today I had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time and saw something I've never seen before - "baby" pheasants. Well, they are probably teenagers by now, but I'd never seen chicks of any age before, so this was a treat, despite the fact that I wasn't able to get really close:
Always a treat to see the pheasants, and a special treat to see the whole family on a morning outing! Gotta love Kissena Park, home to the Ring-Neck Pheasant!
I thought I had them cornered against the chain link fence
but these "babies" could fly,
and went up and over, with their mom...!
and went up and over, with their mom...!
Only the male didn't fly over the fence, at least while I was standing there! I now know, in hindsight, that this is a juvenile male, identified by the lack of the long tail feathers. I saw him again two days later... (more photos below)
August 8, 2011: I went back to the same place I saw the pheasant family on Saturday, but didn't see any of them in that place. But as I turned around to leave, I came, basically, face-to-face with this juvenile male pheasant. I am assuming he's a juvenile due to the lack of long tail feathers, but as yet have not found any info to support that assumption. He let me get quite close and while I stood motionless, camera ready, he felt comfortable enough to stop in a clearing and do some preening. I got quite a few shots that way. Actually I tired before he did, and when I moved, he finally sauntered away! Here are additional photos of a juvenile male pheasant:
He stopped to preen
but then stopped suddenly to check out
what was going on around him
what was going on around him
A little more preening
Always a treat to see the pheasants, and a special treat to see the whole family on a morning outing! Gotta love Kissena Park, home to the Ring-Neck Pheasant!
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