… you're sure of a big surprise!
No not a teddy bear's picnic, but lurking in the undergrowth I came across this extremely shy creature. Meet Lady Amherst's Pheasant.
According to my field guide they were introduced to Woburn in the 20th century from South East Asia. They've obviously spread out a little since then, but this one was certainly behaving in typical fashion, keeping low in the undergrowth which made taking any photos extremely difficult. This is the nearest to a full length shot, but there are a couple more details in the March Birds album.
sanshan
27 Mar 2007What a gorgeous bird.
anonymous
27 Mar 2007Zachary writes:
Wow, what a bird with striking plumage!
Words
27 Mar 2007I can tell you I was utterly surprised – and delighted – when I saw it!
SittingFox
27 Mar 2007Very special sighting :up: Spectacular.
ALLY_G
29 Mar 2007Very nice! :up:
But tell me please, is this a special sort of pheasant?
I just know a sort, which we call gold pheasant.
Words
29 Mar 2007Elke, according to my book we have three types of pheasant in England. The Common Pheasant which is very widepread, the Gold Pheasant which was introduced in the 19th century and is scarce, and Lady Amherst's which was introduced in the last 50 years to Woburn (which is a wildlife/safari park). So it is quite special to see one in the wild 😉
ALLY_G
29 Mar 2007Wow, that really is a special one and you had a lucky photo-day. :up:
volkuro
31 Mar 2007Beautiful!
Lucky you 😀