We’re always harping on about the wonders of the Yorkshire Wolds.  My daily commute over the Wolds can be quite a safari in wildlife terms and I’m always trying, usually without success, to capture these things on camera.  My roe deer video last spring created hoots of laughter in the office and I’ve been expecting the same response today…  The professional image above (not taken by me!) is what I was aiming for but I’ll stick to the day job.

Over the last week, I’ve spotted male pheasants fighting several times in the bright green spring crops. So this morning, I stopped the car to try and take a photo capturing pheasants airborne, with wings outstretched and bright colours flashing in the sun.   Sadly, my photography prowess is somewhat lacking and more to the point, whenever I pointed my camera in the direction of the pheasants, they squatted down in “danger alert mode”.  I expect it is far too “gun-like” in appearance and I don’t suppose they particularly enjoyed the intrusion in their physical battle.

In early spring, male pheasants start to establish breeding territories and these battles between competitors are fascinating to watch. The best description I’ve found is in allaboutbirds.org : “A male maintains sovereignty over his acreage by crowing and calling; he approaches intruders with head and tail erect, and may tear up grass that he then tosses. Competitors sometimes resort to physical combat. After a series of escalating threat displays, fighting cocks flutter upward, breast to breast, and bite at each other’s wattles. They may take turns leaping at each other with bill, claws, and spurs deployed. Usually the challenger runs away before long, and these fights are rarely fatal”.

It’s amazing to witness this. It really is one of the great perks of my stunning commute to work.  Perhaps the less said about my photography though, the better…

Zoe