Bob the Terminator Pheasant, documented in an earlier blog post here, was a remarkable bird: holding me hostage at the castle; tormenting me relentlessly and terrifyingly on one of my daily walks; and forming a close bond with Maria the housekeeper. Bob would accompany Maria down the castle drive every day on her drive home. Maria says that Bob would leave other red cars alone, so his devotion to her must have been personal. When Maria sent me the video below, even I was astonished!
I am using the word "was" in relation to Bob, as Maria thinks he is dead. She no longer sees him. It is possible that Bob was forced off his patch at Balintore Castle by Beau, the dandy pheasant with a blue sheen to the feathers on his chest shown here.
We were initially uncertain if the baby chicks round the castle were Beau's or Bob's, but I spotted the chicks running between Beau and the mother as shown in the following photo:
Most of the chicks in the photo are hidden in the undergrowth.
My friend Catherine commented, once the parentage had been established: "How much better to have kids that are beautiful rather than aggressive!". :-)
Pheasants are not great parents They will not incubate a full clutch of eggs. Once "enough" have hatched they will just abandon the remaining eggs. Gamekeepers will then put the remaining eggs under broody hens to increase the yield. I only learned this fact on Saturday, when the son of a former gamekeeper at Balintore visited from the US.
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