Swap Homes, Cars and Wild Birds?!!

Yes, I am talking about the feathered variety. For the last six months we exchanged our home in mid South-West France for a cottage high up on Cartmel Fell in the English Lake District. The cottage was just above the cottage in which Arthur Ransome lived and wrote his children’s books, the most famous of which is Swallows and Amazons. It was easy to see where Mr Ransome got his inspiration as the view from the top of the Tor just behind our cottage, on a good day, was incredible.
But as autumn faded into winter and the wet weather prevailed the mists closed in and we were often lucky if we could see more than ten yards ahead.

Surrounded on the Fell by sheep, bullocks, badgers, pheasants, the odd hare or two, and many other creatures, we soon discovered that a very handsome pheasant, although nervous of us at first, seemed to think that this was his territory. As the weather deteriorated poor Frederick as we named him would appear looking very forlorn and bedraggled. It wasn’t long before we took pity on him and offered a few titbits, nuts, seeds, and homemade bread. Obviously to his liking he began to makea daily visit to see what was on offer, becoming so bold as to eat out of our hands, a particular favourite of his being cold chips. He would even enter the cottage if the door was left inadvertently open.

Well, I know that dogs are very intelligent animals, and cats even more so judging by the way that they are able to twist their owners round their little paws, but when Frederick took to visiting three times a day at breakfast, lunch and tea-time, knocking on the door with his beak to let us know he wanted feeding, or jumping up on the windowsill and croaking to attract attention, we were amazed! Were we really at the 'peck and call' of a pheasant?! (Excuse the pun!)

When the time came for us finally to leave the cottage, we were happy that it was almost the first day of spring, as we felt that Fred should have a relatively easy time fending for himself and we comforted ourselves with the thought that the new residents would surely respond to his forthright requests should the need arise!