Hello everyone my mother found this egg while digging in the garden it was buried on its own about 2 inches in the soil. She suspects its a pheasant egg as theres been one wandering about every now and then but wants a more informed opinion on what it is and what to do with it, the egg has since been put back but I am concerned as we do get foxes on occasion
Egg
High Jake,
Firstly a warm welcome to the forum I hope you enjoy it here.
I have just found this paragraph on the web which may well confirm your thoughts about a pheasant.....
"The female nests in a shallow depression in the ground under a hedge or among tall grass.
The male often accompanies several females, and will defend his territory and harem from intruding males in vicious fights.
The eggs, which are about 45 mm by 36 mm, are smooth and non-glossy, and olive-brown. The female alone incubates the eggs and tends to the precocial nestlings"
let me know if this sounds about right?
Here's the complete link
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/pheasant.htm
Hi Jake
The best thing to do is nothing. It's quite likely to be a Pheasant's egg, but please just leave it alone exactly where you found it, as it is illegal to disturb the nest of any nesting bird. Hopefully the parents will return to it, but if they don't they might have decided to nest in a different place.
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos
thanks for the replies, whats strange bout this egg is that it's in the a patch that my mother is digging. According to the website pheasant nests in hegerows or in tall grass which are on either side of the barren patch of earth that the egg was found in, also we haven't seen a pheasant for a few months now and we haven't seen 1 since finding the egg, which leads me to suspect that it's been abandoned
Is it possible that a prey of somesort has found the egg, taken it and burried it for later? Is this likely or am I talking nonsense as usual.
Regards
WP
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. - John Lubbock
Possibly we'll be watching what happens over the coming weeks my mother and I think its something thats stolen this egg from a nest and buried it and has forgotten about it either that or my mum has scared it off when she started digging
HI Jake
If it was under the soil I doubt it being a nest . Foxes will take food and bury it to eat after.
Ray
a good laugh is better than a tonic
We have a pheasant nesting in our garden and you can see a photo of the nest and eggs below. We are amazed that there are so many. 28 as of this morning! The pheasant keeps leaving the nest for extended periods but is still laying eggs. Is this normal? If you want ot see more photos and details then you can visit http://www.daly.co.uk/pheasant
Hi John
Wow That's going to be a large batch of pheasant chicks
Woodpecker said: Hi John Wow That's going to be a large batch of pheasant chicks
Well there even more now!! As of today I have counted 33 eggs although whether any will hatch is the question. Does anyone have any ideas on this one? A fuller account of the last couple of weeks can be found at :
http://www.daly.co.uk/pheasant/
A quick update - there are now 38 eggs with the latest being laid yesterday. How many more are there likely to be???
http://www.daly.co.uk/pheasant