I was walking by Howard’s Glen the other day with a friend to show them Howard when I noticed… several Howards. I hadn’t gone by for a while since I had gotten my fill of Howard pictures, but it appears that the Green Pheasant population of the glen has increased somewhat. First, my friend and I spotted at least two or three females in various places, and in addition to Howard, there was a new male–probably immature, as this one had no significant tail feathers to speak of (though I can’t find any mention of this variation through a brief search). I went back today with my camera and saw just two–a female and the new young male.

The female, of course…

After landing in the brush… more on that below

Howard’s competition

Not a good image, but it’s the best that shows the lack of tail feathers; compare with Howard’s

The two new birds were also a bit flighty–neither one stayed in sight for very long, unlike Howard, who is relatively tame. The male (let me call him “Henry”), in fact, came into view right under me from beneath the overpass, and then quickly ducked back after spotting me overhead. I was only able to get him later after he came out when I was momentarily elsewhere.

The female (call her “Henrietta,” a name my mom came up with a while back) was also shy. I got the second image of her, though, just as I was packing up to leave and noticed movement of branches in the brush. I’d never seen a pheasant anywhere but the ground before, but Henrietta had flown up into some low brush and was actually perching. After sitting there looking around for a minute, she walked along the branches to go under the leaf cover and disappeared–presumably to a nest or a night perch. Just a few minutes before, Henry had disappeared behind a small construction embankment and had similarly not come back out, probably also settling down.

In any case, I’ll have to start coming back to the glen more often to see who’s running around down there.