[Bristol-Birds] Ring-necked in Sullivan County
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 20:05:42 -0500
It
isn't
much
to write
home about
but a little
dab will do you.
What appeared to be a Roadrunner was walking along the edge of
a field behind Pal's Sudden Service drive thru in Blountville, Sullivan
County, TN about 6:30 p.m. today (3/7). I couldn't believe my eyes.
It was a good thing I didn't.
It was an adult male RING-NECKED PHEASANT. It took me a moment
to get my car in position to snap a one-handed digital quickie with my
convenient little Cannon PowerShot. The flash didn't give me much
support.
The species is a new county bird for me. Well, no. I do not
keep a county list. But since I have not seen this species before in
the county, I'll add it to my mental-to-remember county list.
This is likely the first Ring-necked Pheasant seen in Sullivan County
since 26 April 1986 when Loraine Hale reported one in the vicinity of
Sullivan East High School at "Littleford's" field. It was flushed by dogs
and flew 100 yards to land. It was observed while it was in the process
of feeding.
The species was raised in captivity in Shady Valley, Johnson Co., TN
in the 1950's and released by the local hunting club. It was seen often
for several years and nests were found in the wild in the early 1960's.
It was extirpated by 1970.
A Ring-necked Pheasant was being kept in a cage near the crossroads
in Shady Valley when it was seen 26 Dec 1996 by Wallace Coffey,
John Shumate, Andy Jones and Larry McDaniel.
The Blountville bird was probably escaped from a nearby cage. It never
took flight. It was just running around. Even ran up to the front door of
the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department. Oh, mercy. Is this a jail bird?
Let's go birding......
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
Other related posts:
- » [Bristol-Birds] Ring-necked in Sullivan County
