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!!!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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).
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...
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.
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.