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| This morning, 13 pheasants flew in at 7:40, just as the sun was rising, directly into the lower tree line, then ran to the upper line where I had put out 4 quarts of shelled/cracked corn. They ate for 20 minutes then, not being disturbed by any cars going by, moved to the brushy cover and rested--probably full crops and needing to get some morning sunshine to warm up a little. My plan for the orchard was to cut all the lower brush and open it up, but maybe leaving some brush and weeds is a good idea. Might plant a few dozen rows of corn along the road to add some cover. The deer would eat it all up quickly, but the stalks might remain--especially if I get some giant corn. |
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| My newer apple trees are all ringed with fencing to keep the deer from eating the branches. |
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| After about 20 minutes of eating corn, they huddle in the cover along the brushy row of apples, letting the sun warm them up on this -15 morning. |
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| The view out the window towards the NE -- the orchard |
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| The pheasants didn't come in until a little later--when the sun was fully up. Been reading on the internet about pheasants--quite an interesting bird --require equivalent calories of 3-Snicker's bars a day to thrive in the below zero winter. Have to get a few and see if they actually eat them ;-)
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