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Pheasant loose on Sunderland Road???
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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #1
02-04-2014 07:02 AM

We spotted this pheasant yesterday afternoon. It walked along Sunderland Road at the south circular all the way along to the foot of the hill, and appeared lost and trying to figure out which house was its.

Police (101, not 999), RSPCA, vet and an animal relay company - all uninterested. Horniman sounded fed up at taking calls asking if they'd lost a pheasant.

Where did it come from? The relay company said this was quite normal - but not in my 28 years in SE23!!!



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clausy


Posts: 73
Joined: Mar 2014
Post: #2
02-04-2014 08:14 AM

...and I thought April 1st was yesterday...

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #3
02-04-2014 08:17 AM

I'd agree with you but the camera never lies!!!!! We could hardly believe it ourselves!

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #4
02-04-2014 08:27 AM

With all the crashes and DIY wars at the moment that makes a pheasant change.[/i]

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Perryman


Posts: 820
Joined: Dec 2006
Post: #5
02-04-2014 09:10 AM

Now you've done it.
The toffs from the other side of the tracks will be over with their guns and hunting dogs.

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AMFM


Posts: 306
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #6
02-04-2014 09:43 AM

I've seen wild pheasants in Norwood Country Park so maybe a day tripper from there. If it's healthy and able to fly (which it looks as though it is) no reason for anybody to be remotely interested!

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #7
02-04-2014 10:04 AM

Quote:
If it's healthy and able to fly (which it looks as though it is) no reason for anybody to be remotely interested!

Yes, it's just that as I've never ever seen a pheasant wandering around London I sort of assumed it was supposed to be somewhere else and had escaped. I didn't fancy its chances, much, if it was trying to find its way home - and then we'd potentially be putting in a call for an injured bird, not a healthy one.

Has anyone seen one around here before? Any idea where it came from? They don't usually fly very high. This one walked half way up Sunderland Road apart from a bit of flapping to get onto or over fences.

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Cheeky


Posts: 215
Joined: May 2009
Post: #8
02-04-2014 11:07 AM

i'd be interested if I saw a pheasant walking up my street

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AMFM


Posts: 306
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #9
02-04-2014 11:35 AM

To be fair, Cheeky, so would I! I meant it more in the sense of police/RSPCA etc.

I think there has been another thread mentioning pheasants (can't remember when) and people mentioning that they had seen pheasants in the area before

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lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #10
02-04-2014 11:54 AM

Agreed with AMFM - something to celebrate rather than get alarmed by. Not seen one locally myself but have seen plenty of other birds not normally associated with urban areas, e.g. buzzards and falcons, so not wholly surprising either. A good sign for the local ecosystem!

Having said all that, don't rate its chances too high if it sticks to the local roads. City dwelling pheasant it may be but unlikely to have any better road sense than its rural cousins.

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #11
02-04-2014 11:57 AM

I really don't think a pheasant is a sign of anything to do with our ecosystem! I think it's a sign that someone has a hole in their fence!

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #12
02-04-2014 12:01 PM

You're quite right, AMFM. One of these was spotted on someone's roof in HOP last autumn:

http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=8845

Still seems very unnatural to me. I don't think they're renowned for their flying, unlike the various birds of prey that have been mentioned. So I'm sure it must be an escaped 'local'! I can't imagine how else it would have got here from the moorlands!

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lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #13
02-04-2014 12:16 PM

Mr_Numbers, the countryside is thick with pheasants. They get around or this wouldn't be the case. They can certainly fly well enough to not need holes in fences, so nothing unnatural about this IMO.

I wasn't linking the presence of one pheasant to a statement about the ecosystem, sorry if it read that way. Rather, a good variety of species locally does suggest something good (species-area relationship).

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AMFM


Posts: 306
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #14
02-04-2014 12:32 PM

Wild pheasants are actually perfectly good fliers (flyers?) - I think they have a poor rep because a lot of the bred ones are reared to be quite fat and easy shooting on estates etc...

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #15
02-04-2014 12:47 PM

32 years in London and I have never seen a pheasant here. The countryside? Yes, loads. Scotland, mostly. The Cotswolds, perhaps. Maybe Kent (I don't recall seeing any there but then I go to Scotland more than Kent.) But London? Pheasants? I'm still astonished.

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lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #16
02-04-2014 01:17 PM

I can assure you that there is a huge population of pheasants in the south of England. Hard to miss actually in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire...

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #17
02-04-2014 01:23 PM

I'm sure you're right. That's exactly where I'd expect to see them (I just don't get out around here much, is all I meant).

But Sunderland Road??? I'd be astonished if it got here under its own steam from deepest Kent. My wife, who's from the Scottish countryside, was almost incredulous when I showed her the photo.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #18
02-04-2014 01:57 PM

You would have thought that the rocketing house prices would keep the peasants out of the area.

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #19
02-04-2014 02:13 PM

Rofl

You beat me to it Michael

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #20
02-04-2014 02:16 PM

I hope you guys never get given shotguns for a pheasant shoot. Just in case you mis-hear the purpose of the things...

Laugh

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