Photo by Don Bartling
Pheasants are most comfortable on the ground, where they forage for grains, seeds, berries and insects. They can fly by launching themselves airborne with an abrupt, noisy takeoff, but typically run from trouble.
February 8, 2018
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Focusing on the wily pheasant
In the winter mornings and evening in Boundary County, moose, elk, coyotes, mule deer and white-tailed deer might be seen. Ponds are frozen over and remaining waterfowl move to the ice-free Kootenai River. They continue to feed in grain fields. Bald eagles concentrate around the flocks of ducks and geese. Red-tailed hawks hunt for mice in the fields. Elk herds often wander down from the Selkirk Mountains to the Kootenai River Valley in the evenings and head back up to the forest at first light in the morning. However, it was a ring-necked pheasant that caught my attention last week as I was traveling the Farm to Market road in northern Boundary County.