Pheasants and Muntjac Feeding
Posted: 9 June 2019
I collected the camera early this evening to see what had been going on over that last week. It's been strapped to a tree on the path behind the Ruston Bench all week, directed along the main path towards the turns that take you to the Ruston Bench or behind the Reed Bed.
On Tuesday at 04:51 the camera is still in infra-red mode. A pheasant is seen proceeding down the slope towards the those junctions. He makes the right turn towards the reed bed beyond the pile of twigs. While its progress is relaxed it seems both purposeful and routine.
That night at 22:33 a muntjac is seen in the same area, happily munching on any tasty vegetation it can find.
The following morning, just a minute later than the previous day's trip, a pheasant is seen proceeding down the slope towards the those junctions. Yes, it's an exact repeat, to within a minute, of the previous morning, although this trip lacks the appearance of routine of the previous one, with the turn behind the twigs very much a second thought.
Now we've come to Friday! It's 02:55 and there's not much of interest here, except that it shows that visits by muntjac are extremely regular.
It's Saturday and at 05:48 a muntjac is once again nibbling at anything that takes its fancy - but this time on the other side of the path.
We've reached this morning at 01:46. It's another gentle amble by another muntjac. This time we can see that it makes a left turn towards the Ruston Bench.
It's difficult to escape the conclusion that there's a certain pattern to all this activity - just like my own tours around the grounds. For muntjac, feeding doesn't always take place at the same time each day. Nor are the rambles of a pheasant guaranteed every day, but life certainly has a certain routine.
