Hi,
I have been following the comments about these feathers and finally decided to pitch in to the discussion, as I have quite a bit of contact with this group of birds throughout the year. The colour and pattern of the feathers rules out Woodcock. These are clearly feathers from a juvenile pheasant; there are a number of key factors which eliminate other likely gamebirds. Firstly, too large for a Quail ( the width of the lowest feather is far too great); second, Grey Partridge have discrete narrow pale bars on the inner webs of all primaries which do not reach the shaft or the margin of the feather. Red-legged Partridges and hybrids have no barring on the primaries, but show a pale fawn edge to the outermost part of the outer webs. A close look at the lowest feather reveals that it still retains a basal sheath and is clearly not fully grown; the birds is clearly replacing the initial flight feathers with this generation of first 'grown-up feathers'. All gamebirds have precocial young which leave the nest soon after hatching; they quickly grow tiny functioning flight feathers and pheasant and partridge poults can fly at only 7-8 days old!! These soft, thin and rounded feathers ( the middle two) are replaced by more typical flight feathers in the following weeks as the bird gains weight.The top feather is a bit different, it is difficult to be sure but it could be a secondary from the opposite wing, or an outer tail feather. I hope this helps.
I really enjoy the Pembs birds blogspot, it makes me pine for the Pembrokeshire coast!! I will be coming down to see my Mam in St Ishmaels next week so hope to have some sightings to share with you all,
Best wishes Norman McCanch
