Oliver's Surprise.

It seems Oliver the undersized cock pheasant has more vim and vigour than I credited him with. You might remember that I was concerned that if he couldn’t make the four foot leap onto the bird table, he would be easy prey for prowling foxes.

I saw him again this evening. He was heading for the garden and I fully expected to do the feeding duty again, but he changed his mind and flew from the road into one of the big sycamore trees to roost instead. Much relief all round, and he knows where he can get food if he needs it.

(I assume cock pheasants do have minds. They’re not known for being particularly intelligent.)