Almost a partridge in a pear tree

Don’t you just love it when something unexpected turns up in your garden (and I’m definitely talking wildlife here!). All of us have a fascination with the unusual, and certainly in my garden it will cause me to dash indoors urging whoever is present to get themselves out to see the latest visitor.

I thought of this when I saw this elegant girl creeping about under the feeders in the garden outside the RSPB Rye Meads visitor centre last week. The Pheasant is not something that has ever graced the Top 20 in the RSPB’s Big Garden BirdWatch, but nevertheless they do turn up in quite a number of gardens these days.

Yes, much - if not most - of their reason for visiting is to mop up spilt seed underneath bird tables. But when an out-of-the-ordinary species comes to visit, there is always the chance to do a bit of swotting to find out it if there is anything you can do to entice them to stay longer. In the case of Pheasants, maybe the planting of a dense hedge or thorny shrubbery is the top option, which will give them somewhere to take cover, roost, and maybe even breed.

While I have never had a Pheasant in my own garden, I almost had a Partridge last week. I was just leaving for work and there it was running down the close, a Red-legged rather than the now ever-so-threatened Grey. I can only imagine it was making a bee-line for the oasis that is my garden. It has prompted me to think of buying and planting that pear tree I’ve always promised myself. Even if I don’t get a partridge, the blossom is brilliant for spring bees and the fruit for the thrushes!

Any tales to tell of unusual visitors - bird or otherwise - to your gardens?

Are you taking advantage of the RSPB’s free wildlife gardening advice? Check out RSPB Homes for Wildlife here.