I was visiting a friend this afternoon and as I was leaving a beautiful pheasant sauntered into view. “That’s my husband’s friend”, she said. It seems that the pheasant had appeared last year in a bedraggled and sorry state and been fed and brought back to health by my friends husband.

The bird will sit and eat grain and corn from his hand and trusts him. He is a gorgeous specimen with one recognisable defect – he has a twisted beak. He might have been hit by a car and his beak was damaged for life. Those who drive along country lanes will know that pheasants are not good at crossing roads. Someone should teach them the green cross code.