Lady Amherst's Pheasant
However, I can't help being a little bemused about the way that Lady Amherst's Pheasant is starting to appear on a few lists based on the escaped individual in Norfolk at present. Lady A used to be an established introduced species in Britain, but was found mostly in Bedfordshire and adjacent counties (and these birds are now all but extinct - perhaps entirely extinct?). Although it bred a couple of times in Norfolk in the early 70s, these birds failed to produce an established population. Since then, single birds are seen very occasionally, but at such a frequency as to show they are clearly individual escapes from collections, not part of an established wild population. Adding the current West Rudham bird to a life or year list is clearly not appropriate, unless you are in the habit of ticking any escaped bird you come across. If so, there are often a few Reeves' Pheasants at Buckenham/Strumpshaw you might want to go and look for too - spectacular birds but clearly not an established population.
Unless any Beds birders can say otherwise, it appears that Lady A is no longer available in Britain. Indeed, it is questionable whether those of us who saw them before they died out should retain them on our lists, as they clearly proved not to be a "self-sustaining population" in the long run.
Sorry!
Andy
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- Andy Musgrove
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I did add it briefly to my list (presumably what you refer to in your comments) based on the West Rudham bird I saw yesterday, though I have now removed it after looking into it further and later today establishing that it has escaped from the keepers house. Birdguides did not initially put this bird out as an escape, although they subsequently have done. Its provenance has yesterday become clearer, as many suspected an escape.
I agree that it is barely tickable nowadays, having today read that there are just 3 males left from the introduced but established population of birds. Sadly clearly not self sustaining as there are no females left. I had not appreciated the full situation with these birds (or the lack of them).
Still nice to see though. I wonder how many have this ticked on their list when they have seen similar unringed but escaped birds. As you say, should they be on people's lists anyway as an introduced but evidently non-sustainable population?........its a difficult one, but perhaps this explains people's lack of strict ethics regards subsequent sightings of such birds where the species has been introduced but failed to sustain (I can think of no other comparable uk species), well at least in this case to a point where its origin was unproven.
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There is no similar UK species yet, but it is conceivable that Golden Pheasant and Ruddy Duck, for different reasons, may present the same issue for new listers in the future.
Andy
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- Andy Musgrove
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Ruddy Duck is not/will not be in the same category as the population clearly was established and self-sustaining until the government decided to get rid of them.
Cheers
Steve
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"C6 Former naturalized species – species formerly placed in C1 whose naturalized populations are either no longer self-sustaining or are considered extinct, e.g. Lady Amherst's Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae."
We'll see...
Andy
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- Andy Musgrove
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As an aside how many people are counting the White-tailed Eagle releases on the east coast of Scotland, the tagged Great Bustards or countless dodgy wildfowl?
Last winter we had a small Canada Goose (probably Taverner's) along the Wye initially in Herefordshire and later Breconshire, among 250 Canadas. Not inconceivable that it was a genuine transatlantic flyer, and indeed if one arrived in Wales what would be the most likely species it would associate with - Canada Goose. But it will never have a chance of getting through as a accepted vagrant, wrong place and wrong company. I wonder how the Ross's Geese will fair?
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Presumably the Lady A's which were formerly at Pentre Halkyn Cemetery in North Wales fall into the same category as the Brickhill population. Any idea how many years ago the PH birds were last seen ?
Tony
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Andy
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- Andy Musgrove
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The last time i remember one reported was around 1995 (or maybe 96') when a male was reported together with a Golden Pheasant!!! With that news i decided to give up on them and eventually saw one in Charle Wood, Bedfordshire.
From what i know they were never self sustaining and most birders knew this but opted for the "lazy tick"?
Cheers Ian.
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2006 - six males at three Beds sites
2007 - seven males at three Beds sites but no females seen
2008 - five males at three Beds sites
Cheers
Andy
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- Andy Musgrove
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I guess, as always, it is up to the individual.
The one I always struggle with is waterfowl, if some are OK, how do you tell the difference between them and the plastics......
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Resurrecting an old topic here, but I saw a Lady Amherst last week.
I was in ******, in Bedfordshire, on a photo shoot and wandered into the woods for a pee. This very distinctive bird came out for the bushes and legged it away from me.
I didn't know what is was until I did a bit of research, but it was definitely a Lady Amherst
So the breed appears to be still hanging on in there!
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Hi,
Resurrecting an old topic here, but I saw a Lady Amherst last week.
I was in ******, in Bedfordshire, on a photo shoot and wandered into the woods for a pee. This very distinctive bird came out for the bushes and legged it away from me.
I didn't know what is was until I did a bit of research, but it was definitely a Lady Amherst
So the breed appears to be still hanging on in there!
Ah. Right. So this explains why I've received a couple of phone calls in the last week asking me where the Lady A's were...
I've never been aware of any other Ben Miller/Millars on the UK birding scene before, so to clarify any potential confusion, this Ben Miller has no idea how to see Lady A's in the UK at the moment.
In fact, I've not seen one in Britain since the 20th March 1999 in Lowe's Wood on the Bucks/Bed border, with a number of others including LGRE and Rich Bonser. The last Bucks record I know of was a calling male I heard with Simon Nichols et al on the 1st of May 2005 at Back Wood near Bow Brickhill.
So, sorry, can't help anyone!
Cheers,
Ben Miller,
Bucks Tring, UK
@Bob_Tag
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Ben Millar wrote:
Hi,
Resurrecting an old topic here, but I saw a Lady Amherst last week.
I was in ******, in Bedfordshire, on a photo shoot and wandered into the woods for a pee. This very distinctive bird came out for the bushes and legged it away from me.
I didn't know what is was until I did a bit of research, but it was definitely a Lady Amherst
So the breed appears to be still hanging on in there!
Ah. Right. So this explains why I've received a couple of phone calls in the last week asking me where the Lady A's were...
I've never been aware of any other Ben Miller/Millars on the UK birding scene before, so to clarify any potential confusion, this Ben Miller has no idea how to see Lady A's in the UK at the moment.
In fact, I've not seen one in Britain since the 20th March 1999 in Lowe's Wood on the Bucks/Bed border, with a number of others including LGRE and Rich Bonser. The last Bucks record I know of was a calling male I heard with Simon Nichols et al on the 1st of May 2005 at Back Wood near Bow Brickhill.
So, sorry, can't help anyone!
Cheers,
Ben Miller,
Bucks Tring, UK
@Bob_Tag
Hi, wasn't aware the location of the birds should be kept under wraps

I'm not a member of the birding scene, I just joined as I saw the pheasant and this seemed the place to report it.
Funny fact for my namesake Ben Miller - I grew up in Tring!!
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Funny fact for my namesake Ben Miller - I grew up in Tring!!
What a coincidence.
I don't recall any namesakes! When were you in Tring? Which school did you go to?
Cheers,
Ben
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