Morning Visitors - Ring Necked Pheasants

The last time we spoke to our new landlord...right before he took his red eye flight off to the mainland for a new life of traveling in his 5th wheel... he warned us very sternly "..and do not shoot the pheasants!"

Well I have to admit I have not completely honored my promise...I sure hope shooting with my camera doesn't count! We've had them visit much closer then these pictures..but they probably would have flown away had I opened the sliding door to 'shoot' them. So here are some shots from this morning..a male was taking in some morning sun as he sat on one of the fence posts across the street. I took these from my deck.





The Ring necked pheasant was introduced to the Hawaiian islands in the 19th century for sport. What makes me sad is that I've talked to some that say they don't do it for the meat but for the pelt(?). I see so many that have the taxidermist do whatever it is they do to it so that they can set up somewhere for show. It really is an amazingly beautiful bird and to see those feathers close up is a neat experience. But I am completely happy observing them from a distance... alive and walking around... and will continue to shoot them but only with my Canon Rebel ;-)

Visitors in my backyard

I can never catch these guys on camera...they take off well before I can get my camera out...but this there must have been a lot of yummy seeds in my not so green grass..as I was not only able to get my camera, I was able to change the lense and sneak around the side of the house to hide behind some plants and pretend I was on a safari taking pictures of wild animals. (I think that would be so fun!)



Are these Cardinals you ask? Yes they are! They look a little different then the usual full red Cardinal..They are called Brazilian Cardinals..aren't they pretty? I don't know if they are in any of the mainland states...I'd never seen them in California before..but we have them all over here. I just love the bright flash of red against thier white feathered breast.



Oh..hello!



And these..I don't know what they are. Some kind of seed pod..but what? I've never seen them before. A few days later we found a couple more in our yard. Some new plant near us because we've lived in this house for 5 years and have never had these strange visitors.



Anyone know what they are?