Monday September 18th 2017 - Do pheasants have brains?

After the previous day's lovely blue sky and sunshine the weather was back to being damp and dismal again so it was another morning spent in the van. It did stop raining at lunch time though and it brightened up into quite a pleasant afternoon, although it wasn't really sunny enough for long enough to go anywhere proper so I went the few miles back to Clippesby and paid my second visit to Eileen and Ron - it was actually Eileen's birthday and even though she couldn't see very well I still took a card for her. I took a slightly different route than usual though and it was while I was driving down a narrow country lane not far from their cottage that I experienced something which gave me a fit of the giggles.

As I rounded a bend I came across two pheasants in the middle of the lane so not wanting to run them over I slowed down and waited for them to get out of the way - except they didn't. They decided that rather than jump into the safety of the hedge they would run in front of the van - and they ran and ran, with me driving slowly behind them. No wonder so many get killed on country roads, they just don't seem to have the sense to get out of the way. Unfortunately the camera wasn't within my reach or I would have snapped a photo of them as they looked so funny, however I continued to drive slowly along and eventually, after quite a distance, they jumped onto the grass verge and disappeared through the hedge.

My bird encounters continued however, as round the next bend I came across a couple of partridges who did exactly the same thing as the pheasants, except they didn't run as far as the pheasants had before they sought the safety of the hedge. It was really funny to watch them and it struck me then that now I know where the expression 'bird brain' probably came from. I told Eileen and Ron about them and Ron said that pheasants in particular seem to be really stupid creatures.

With no Joe around I was able to take Sophie and Poppie into the house and they were thoroughly spoiled with affection and treats by both my friends; it was easy to see how much they love dogs so I really hoped they would find another friend of their own soon. Sitting in the conservatory I noticed a couple of pheasants out in the garden and Ron told me that round about 4pm they would start gathering on the lawn until there was a huge group of them then they would disappear into the trees beyond. And sure enough, every time I looked out of the window more pheasants had appeared - I lost count at twenty five, there must have been at least fifty if not more. Then all at once they were gone - when I looked out again there wasn't a single pheasant to be seen, it was as if they'd disappeared into thin air. These really were peculiar creatures.

After a very pleasant couple of  hours it was time for me to say my goodbyes for this year, so with a hug and kiss for Eileen and the promise to send a card and letter at Christmas I clipped the leads on the dogs and took my leave. Back at the camp site the aroma of cooking was drifting across the field from the nearby chip shop so I decided that as it was my last full day I would treat myself to fish and chips. The portion was huge even though I'd asked for a small one, and there was no way I could eat it all so just for once, and as a special treat, I shared my meal with the dogs then we settled in for our last evening on site.