I've Seen It All Now.......

[Lawdwaz]

So a week and a half ago a cock pheasant runs across the road in front of me........I go "WTF?" and crank a you-eee.  Grab a couple quick pics as he scoots along the fence and luckily he's back dropped by a white trash bag. Oh and this isn't a country road where you'd expect it, it's three streets east of Harlem, on Kensington in Snyder.

Where in the heck would this bird come from?  You could count all the wild birds (gotta be, right?) I've seen in NYS on one hand!

Weird but not nearly rare, I was traveling down Wehrle Drive in Clarence on Tuesday at a tick over the speed limit and I spot something off the right shoulder of the road out of the corner of my eye.  I hit the brakes and my wife is like "oh come on, now what?"  I do another you-eee and drive past it and do another you-eee so it's right in front of me.

Standing right on the edge of the road is a woodcock.  He doesn't fly until I get within 4-5 feet then buzzes over to a swampy section closer to the woods.  How cool is that?

A couple very neat encounters with game birds you don't see too often, made my days!!

 

 

[grampy]

You are certainly on a roll Larry. Very cool and heads up sightings! 

Next thing you know a grouse will be sitting on the handlebar of your Wheeler?

[Lawdwaz]

Oh yea.....seems I do have some strange luck with game birds, huh?

Good memory Dave!

Edited March 28, 2020 by Lawdwaz

[Lawdwaz]

[Daveboone]

I love this time of year for birds. Grouse are real active and often close to the road and acting foolish for mating. Woodcock are migrating, and frequently seen. They are one of my favorite birds...so goofy looking but beautiful, and I love the drunken way they fly with their "chirchirchir".

I am willing to bet the pheasant Lawdwaz saw was a realease, probably made it through the winter at a feeder. Back in the seventies we saw wild ones in our yard and nearby woods/fallow farmland a lot, when there was a lot more favorable habitat. I miss them. 

[doebuck1234]

Nice pics!name change time.#birdwhisperer

 

[Deleted Account]

Great photos! So cool about the pheasant!

Edited March 28, 2020 by Splitear_Leland

[Rattler]

My BIL tells me he sees lots of pheasant on Staten Island all the time.  And they're not stocked birds.  They're wild.

[JALA RUT]

9 hours ago, grampy said:

Next thing you know a grouse will be sitting on the handlebar of your Wheeler?

Not my pic, but my buddy at his camp has a grouse that joins them out in the woods for the past 2 years now...they've even named him Marvin. Walks with them, goes onto their wheelers, flys up and sits in treestands with them, and flys up into their arms so they can hold him and pet him...the grouse shows up pretty much most of the time they're out there.

[2012_taco]

Nice pics Lawd, next thing you know you'll have a hen turkey nesting in your back yard! You are the Birdwhisperer! 

[Einsamer Krieger]

Beautiful pictures!!   You have the way in getting close with these birds.  Keep up the good work.

Last fall, saw a woodcock on the edge of my swamp, wasn't afraid at all.

[Lawdwaz]

Funny thing; I don’t think I ever killed a timberdoodle although I did hunt them once on Grand Island 25 years ago.  We put a couple up but I don’t think I killed one.  As far as Mr Ruff, only one notch on my stock for them. 
 

Killed a couple wild cock pheasants and lots of preserve hens & cocks.