WILDLIFE WATCHING -- "We saw an inspiring sight at our place (recently) that I had never seen before, anywhere!" said Bart Haggin, who lives with his birder-photographer wife, Lindell, along the Little Spokane River. 

"We saw five Chinese ringed-neck pheasants in full plumage all together in on spot.  Three of them were up in a tree covered with Virginia creeper eating berries. 

"In all my 80 years I have never seen those supremely skittish birds in such profusion.  They are my favorite birds and I believe to be the most beautiful and exotic of all feathered families.

"When I shot them in my salad days I just marveled at the tapestry of colors and textures.

"And I caught two of them in my bare hands!  Once when one got caught in a rose bush thicket and another time when one flew into a fence and kept trying to get through it.  I just reached down and grabbed him.

"They are ever so much more impressive while they are still alive!"