Tuesday, March 26th, 2019
This handsome guy strutted right up to our house this morning, bold as brass.
We’ve never had pheasants be that comfortable to approach our house, but we wondered if the chickens gave him a sense of confidence.
You never know!
Saturday, March 23rd, 2019
Our house has been like a wildlife sanctuary lately.
Deer, swans, geese, and pheasants everywhere.
Every morning we have 10-15 hens and 4-5 rooster pheasants in our back field. It’s fun to watch that many of them forage at one time.
Sunday, March 17th, 2019
A true drama unfolded in our backyard today.
My image today just puts me to giggles every time I look at it. The struggle, the damsel. The victory, the defeat.
These two went at it for about a half hour today, with and without female presence.
Enjoy some of my best catches:
Another neat thing from today? I photographed a fox for the first time ever! My image is shaky at best, but I don’t care because I caught him! He was a ways out there, well beyond the capabilities of my lens, but still a neat thing for me.
Tuesday, February 19th, 2019
Large shadowy blobs in trees always make me stop for a better look.
More often than not, they’re large birds. To me, a bird worth photographing.
Sitting in my office this morning, I saw a blob in one of our trees out front. It’s a tree that doesn’t often have birds that sit in it, so my interest was more peaked than normal.
This blob shifted in the tree, and the light hit it – a rooster pheasant!
I should’ve known – the pheasants always come out before a big snowstorm. Time to buckle down!
Wednesday, February 6th, 2019
If you’re a consistent follower of my blog and/or have been to my house in the winter, you know about our pheasants.
Yes, our resident Ringneck Pheasants.
We have dozens of hens and roosters that live around our house, and thanks to the open farm fields, in the wintertime their presence is a daily occurrence (Which I absolutely love!).
Well, this morning’s story was this guy. He flew in to our front field and came right up to the edge of our front yard. It’s a bit of a drop off into the field, and for twenty minutes I watched him disappear when he put his head down to eat and then comically pop back up – so naturally, I had to share ☺️
After the cold we had last week, I’m happy to see them all out and about again!
Thursday, January 31st, 2019
It got to be zero degrees today, and everyone was rejoicing – including the wildlife.
Over a dozen pheasants scoured the fields today, coming out of their three day hibernation looking for food to get them going again.
Saturday, December 29th, 2018
I saw a meme today that read this:
“That week between Christmas and New Years where you don’t know what day it is, who you are, or what you’re supposed to be doing.”
I’m definitely there!
Tuesday, December 11th, 2018
There was romance in the air this morning.
Throughout the past couple weeks, we’ve had a couple of hen pheasants that have been consistently feeding in the field behind our house. This morning a rooster joined them.
Feeding, however, was not what was on his mind.
This isn’t the best angle to see him in his full strut, but it’s a great angle to show how he’s attempting to make himself look bigger to the hen. He has flattened himself out, spread out his tail feathers, and moved in close to her.
She, on the other hand, seemed more annoyed than anything. She kept trying to feed, and he kept invading her space.
Maybe next time, bud!
Saturday, December 1st, 2018
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
December is coming in with a bang, and I’m loving it. Paul’s at work and I have no where to be, so it’s a snow that’s peaceful, not one I’m shaking my fist at.
So I’m sitting on my couch under a blanket, enjoying the pheasants digging through the snow for a snack before bedding down for the night.
Tuesday, August 14th, 2018
We had a pretty intense storm roll through this afternoon.
Three quarters of an inch of rain in a half hour.
It was pouring.
But so so so welcome. Everything has been so dry, so although I maybe would’ve preferred a gentle, soaking rain, rain is rain at this point.
Once the rain stopped, it was like all of the wildlife came out from hiding wondering what the heck had just happened.
Snapping turtles, hummingbirds, Sandhill Cranes, and this hen pheasant. If you look really close at the small dark blob she’s looking toward, that’s a chick! I only saw one, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t more!
Monday, June 25th, 2018
This may be one of my most favorite images of mine to date.
Is he not gorgeous?!
Pheasants are normally very shy birds, so it’s rare that I’m able to get close to one. This guy hung out with me for fifteen minutes this morning, and then another few minutes this evening, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve experienced while shooting. It’s pretty humbling when a wild animal lets you into their world even if for just a few minutes.
To see the entire sequence of how this “shoot” went, be sure to check out my Facebook page!
Tuesday, June 12th, 2018
Evidently this is the sweet spot in our yard.
Remember a couple of days ago, with the Sandhill Crane? Same spot.
Courtney Weinreis // A Borrowed Likeness 