From the age of nine to the age of thirteen, Son was absolutely crazy about wrestling. We even flew across the country to Adelaide to see a match once (which he reckons was one of the highlights of his childhood!)
As you may recall, I began this blog with a story about my two golden pheasant males, Phoenix 1 and Phoenix 2, fighting over a female, with Phoenix 2 being exiled and our 80-year-old neighbour ringing up to say he was there.
Well, the saga has continued. First of all, the neighbour arranged, via a wildlife officer, for Phoenix 2 to be returned to us, but Phoenix 1 immediately banished him again and he was back at the neighbour’s house before she even got home (a 2-kilometre flight I might add). So she and I decided that she may as well keep him and she was rather thrilled, so everyone was happy.
Then, a couple of weeks later, she rang to say he seemed to have disappeared which was upsetting for both of us until another neighbour informed us that he was at their place and had attached himself to their mulberry tree. So they, too, caught him and brought him back here but, even though the female pheasant had long since disappeared (can you blame her?), Phoenix 1 once again chased his brother away.
The irony is that Phoenix 1 is now a very lonely pheasant and whimpers outside the back door constantly, whereas Phoenix 2 is happily gorging on mulberries less than a kilometre away. I really miss Phoenix 2 but what can I do? I refuse to aviary the birds, because I want them to have the freedom of choice, but I do hope he goes back to the 80-year-old neighbour’s place because she really loved him.
One thing for sure: I am not getting any more female pheasants! I’m sure you will understand if you look at these pictures of the battle below; it was terrible, it was awesome and it was a hell of a lot more dramatic than any WWE match I’ve seen.
The peace-loving peacocks tried to intervene; well, we all did, but to no avail.
jmgoyder 
Awesome article. Keep on writing .
Thank you!
why is it that i cant read your blog without thinking that each entry you write has some ethereal, allegorical meaning? i cant read it for what it is. do you do that or is it me?
I don’t really know. It began as a bird blog – plain and simple; the birds were a comfort to me/to us, but sometimes a curse (for Son, but he is 17 after all!) I am pretty transparent so, unless I have admitted to being allegorical or metaphorical – in the various posts – I am being literal, honest, and immediate.
Husband is in the last stages of his diseases, so life is a challenge for the 3 of us. I am trying now to absorb your philosophies which I like much better than the EI we university people are often bombarded with; you seem much more gentle in your approach – thank you!
Loving your blog. I agree with Michael above that your writing does have an ethereal quality to it.. and one can read other meanings into it. Musical!
I vote for blogging whenever you feel the urge rather than daily.
Can’t wait for the next one!
Thanks, Jane!
[For comment ‘followers’, Jane is the beautiful young niece who took the pheasant photos and many others on this blog.]
Julie
Agree wholeheartedly with the above, and your birds are amazing too! I’ve never seen pheasants like these before. ~ Lynda
Oh but I miss Phoenix 2 so much – he was the gentle one!
They are so beautiful. I thought pheasants were brown.
The female of the golden pheasant species is brown, so you are right.
Beautiful birds, those pheasants. I saw one the same only two weeks ago at Melb. Zoo.
That was SOME fight they had – maybe it’s just as well that you don’t get any more. I would be worrying that they might get seriously hurt.
Yes, it was the worst of a couple of fights and it was terrible; apparently it is best to keep golden pheasant males as bachelors!
Maybe you should get two females? One for each boy. Or do pheasants like harems?
Originally we had two females but one died and soon after this battle the other one disappeared. I’m tempted to get another female if I can find one but the other problem is that the males never leave the females alone – they pursue them relentlessly!
Creative writing and birds!? How good can it get. I look forward to reading more of your work. The photography of the pheasants is stunning.
Thanks! Jane Terren (niece) took those photos while the rest of us were in shock.