January 15th-19th, 2024 is Winter-Shokan (lesser cold)-69th KOU “Pheasants start to call.”

When searching for the meaning of this phrase, many explanations say that pheasants enter breeding season and begin courtship behavior. Many also say that the breeding season begins around April.

??? ???

The author must have been conveying a longing for spring in the midst of this coldest season through the pheasant’s first call.

Along the Sai River, you can hear them calling all year round. This season, I heard their calls often, especially from November to December, and I have also seen them more often than usual.

However, they seem to sense my presence from quite a distance, and will suddenly jump up and fly away or run away (apparently at speeds of over 30km/h).

Because they are so sudden, I’ve never been able to get a good photo of them until now. This is the first time I’ve managed to capture them flying✌️

2026/01/09

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