YOU might expect a farmer like Robert Antell to be accompanied by a loyal border collie as he goes about his work.

But Mr Antell is joined each day by another, rather more unexpected creature - wild pheasant Freddie.

Over the course of the past two years, Freddie has formed a strong bond with Mr Antell, hopping aboard his tractor and following him around the farm.

Mr Antell said he’s never heard of a wild bird behaving in such a way before.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of a pheasant doing that sort of thing,” he said.

“He’s very affectionate and quite happy to come along with me during the day.”

Mr Antell met Freddie through a Natural England scheme which encouraged the feeding of wild birds.

“I saw him when I went to a patch to feed the birds,” he said.

“He seemed to say, ‘What are you doing down here?’”

Freddie then hopped aboard Mr Antell’s Land Rover Discovery.

“It was as if he was thinking, ‘Well, you’ve been on my turf, now I’ll follow you back to yours,’” Mr Antell said.

“I suspect he thought I was an intruder on his patch at first.

“He was quite stroppy about it.”

However, Freddie’s initial frostiness quickly thawed.

“Since then, I’ve seen him for almost two years, almost without a day missed,” Mr Antell said.

“He only gets more tame and friendly as time goes by.

“He’ll quite happily jump up on the tractor with me, although we’ve had to ban him from the new tractors because of his dirty feet.”

Freddie - who officially goes by the title Freddie the February Pheasant - roosts in a wood near the farm in East Dorset.

He flies to the estate each morning to spend the day with Mr Antell.

“He comes along with me as I work,” the farmer said.

“I don’t live on the farm - we’re tenant farmers, and we have a landlord.

“I head back home for my lunch, and by 2.05pm, when I head back to the farm, Freddie will be ready to see me again.

“He’s just very interested in what I’m doing.”

Adult male pheasants are between 24 and 35 inches in length. They enjoy eating seeds and kitchen scraps.