Swift Half update - 23rd October 2010

• After another "dawn run" this morning - and a saturday off work, I took another "old man's kip" between noon and three pm. Of course this is when the hen pheasant decided to turn up in our garden and set our hens off -my wife told me, as I emerged bleary-eyed from the pit, mid afternoon.



• Bear in mind here that although there is fanastic countryside a stone's throw away from "Swift Half", no-one could really say we live in that countryside (yet!).



• We live at the edge of one of the biggest towns in the south of England - in a very built up area (next to an industrial estate) and one really shouldn't expect game birds to just drop in the back garden!



• I expect the hen pheasant was flying over and saw our two chickens (which superficially look like hen pheasants I s'pose) and thought she'd drop in for a chat.

Allegedly the chickens weren't really up for a chat - and shrieked "BUGGER OFF" repeatedly to said pheasant -at the top of their voices. They're good like that - our hens - always warning us if a red kite is low, a fox or rat is around, they've caught a frog or the like.

The strange thing is as far as I'm concerned is that in our two houses we've lived in since moving here from London several years ago - both have been in bulit up areas - and BOTH gardens have had a pheasant drop in! Must be some sort of pheasanty pheremones we're giving off....



• Nice to start feeding the jays again today - photo at top of post (click to enlarge).