While the Ring-necked Pheasant is common in our area, actually viewing one is another story for me.
I often hear their crow-like call from a distance, long before I find them striding across an open field or along a roadside.
Or I see them early in the morning, when the sky is gray and can barely make them out in the poor lighting.
Which was why seeing a Ring-necked Pheasant out in the open, on a sunny day, no more than 50 feet away at Lake Erie Metropark, surprised me.
The brilliant copper, green, and red colors of the bird stood out against the green grass and brown reeds along the marshy area at the park.
Within two minutes, the bird disappeared into the reedy area.
