In response to Dave's (tongue-in-cheek?) comments about pheasants ... before Thanksgiving, Becky & I went to Aurora one day. On the way we found a dead male pheasant in the road 1 1/2 mi. north of Levanna Rd.. Admiring it, & stroking the beautiful feathers, she lovingly put it in the car. When we returned 1 1/2 hrs. later we found another dead bird in almost the same spot. It, too, went home with her but the impact with a "flying" vehicle had removed some hide & feathers.
At home she proceeded to inspect the birds & found that they were on the edge of starvation ... basically skin, bones & feathers with nothing in the gullets. This almost certainly proves to us that these were released birds that hadn't any idea about how to forage for themselves. Where they were released they also had no place where they could shelter, find water or roost at night. While most all of us enjoy seeing the birds at the Game Farm, none of us true nature lovers approve of well fed/watered & cared-for birds being released (for the pleasure of hunters) to die a slow death. A great blue heron flew SE over our field yesterday afternoon. Gas is $3.49.9 in Union Springs! Fritzie >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dave Nutter on Friday, January 10, 2014 4:35 AM wrote: "Ann Mitchell & I went up the east side of Cayuga Lake in the afternoon ... a male RING-NECKED PHEASANT flying across NYS-90 just south of Rafferty Road in Ledyard, a bird which may have lived full-time outside the Game Farm for months!" --Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
