Ok so this isn't a post about a birdwatching trip as such. The pheasant pictured got me thinking about the whole subject of introducing birds for hunting. This bird, at Minsmere, was so trusting it went up to every human it saw and begged for food. At Minsmere there were pheasants everywhere. One stumbled onto the scrape and was subject to mobbing by the nesting gulls.
Across the countryside thousands of pheasants are released for hunting, often making them the most common bird to be encountered. On the quiet country roads they are often encountered, too fat and stupid to fly away from approaching cars.
So I ask why. Why release birds for shooting when they will approach you in so trusting a manner. There really can't be much sport, in it surely?
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