I thought he was gone forever because I did not see him for the last two days. But I just went out again to place some bird food and I saw that beautiful tail going under some bushes, and then he came right out into the open as if to say, “Did you miss me?” Yes, I did.  I was sad and almost gave up hope, fearing the worst, looking for remnant feathers. But Baron Von Jonesenheimer is back!

I went out for lunch yesterday with two formers staffers from my talk show, Karen and Frances, whom I had not seen for eight years. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Beverly Hills and sat outside but there was only one problem.  It was too hot! (don’t hate ;)) We caught up on old times and new things and I found out how many of my old staff are now working for Oprah. Hmmm….

He came back!

This time, he was in the back yard and stayed for several hours.

A small crowd gathered between all of us, the pool guy, gardeners – we all stopped working to watch.

We gave him some bird food and he ate ALL of it.

He drank some rainwater off the patio, then sauntered away, up the hill.  I’ll be ready with snacks tomorrow.

A friend just sent an “in-flight” photo she found online.

I’m looking for name suggestions…

Something exotic…

*He is a male.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I walked out on my driveway today, getting ready to run some errands, and I noticed some movement in the bushes off to the side. I thought it might have been someone’s dog because it sounded pretty big and then I saw it. It was a stunning bird with beautiful colors just walking through the plants, under some trees. I ran inside to get my camera, hoping he’d still be there when I got back. I grabbed Denis, our assistant Damon, and housekeeper, Antonia, and said, “You guys have to see this! What is it?” The bird was still there, in fact, he didn’t seem bothered by us, if maybe a bit curious. We decided it was probably a pheasant and wondered if it was somebody’s pet. I started taking pictures as he casually walked around for about ten minutes. After a while, he headed up towards the big hill behind our house, never even looking back to see if we had weapons, or a net (hasn’t he heard of “pheasant under glass?”). He had a chance to fly away but he never flapped his wings, just took his sweet time, sauntering along to the back hill, then up into the safety of some shrubbery.

We looked him up and it’s a ring-necked pheasant, not native to southern California.

We get used to the deer, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, rattlesnakes, and skunks around here, but this was really a treat.

I hope he comes back.