The baby bird that trusted me

Up until now the bird had been very quiet but now it starts peeping a bit in the meeting. Some people think it's cute, some don't. The meeting finally ends and I get back to my desk in my quad with my nice neighbor. SHE thinks the bird is very cute. I take it out and feed it some more (it's still pretty passive but a little less so) and then I snuggle the little bird against my neck so that it's sitting on my shoulder and peeking out from my hair. I work most of the day that way. It's a nice, warm place to keep the bird and I like having it snuggled against me like that. Some co-workers notice and are amazed, some I show the bird off to, some never know. I feed the bird periodically throughout the day and it continues to slowly become more lively. Towards the end of the afternoon it is actively campaigning to be fed which makes me very happy. I pack Little Bird back up into the carrier for the walk to the car and then, once we're safely in, take her back out and rather than just sitting in my hand, she's now perching on my wrist. She seems excited to see the outside world and starts cheeping loudly. She cheeps the whole way home.

By the time we get home, it is cold, the sun is setting and the wind is really whipping through (it does that in the Bayview in the evenings). I'd really like to keep the baby bird safe and warm and cozy with me overnight but she is cheeping and cheeping and now there are two adult birds at the back window who are cheeping in return. It's a big reunion. The parent birds have been looking for baby and baby, though she enjoyed her adventure, is now ready to go home! I feed her some more (to top her off with a last warm meal) but she's pretty distracted and cheeps loudly between mouthfuls. The parent birds never stop. I'd REALLY prefer not to release her at this cold, windy, darkening time but I can't bear to keep them apart any longer- they are all so excited. I take her outside and set her on the ground in the backyard and then I back up and hide (sorta) behind the stairs. She stops cheeping and so do the other birds. I sit and wait for a long time wondering if I've made a big mistake. I'm freezing and the wind is howling (summer in SF). Finally, just as I'm about to go grab her up and take her back indoors, this little bird that sat on my hand/neck/wrist most of the day flies to the top of my 6 foot fence. She hadn't tried to fly once all day. Now she's up on the fence holding on with those tiny toes and the wind is rocking her. I'm even more worried now because I'm afraid she'll get blown away. And then- this little bird FLIES 50 FEET across the empty lot behind my yard and up into an Italian Cypress tree. She lands in it about 15 feet up (and well in amongst the branches). Now the parent birds zoom in to her and one starts feeding her and she does the starving baby-bird mouth gape that says FEED ME! (She wasn't as enthusiastic with me, though always polite.) I watch them with binoculars till it gets dark and I feel good. I think this rescue has a happy ending. She may not have needed me to rescue her but she was cold and sluggish so maybe I did the right thing. In any case, I did no harm (always a rescue worry) and she and I had a very special day together. I don't know why she was so trusting and calm and tame and I never would have thought, based on how she behaved, that she was capable of flying 50 feet in a stiff wind. I fell in love with that little bird. She's a house finch. There's a whole flock that lives near by.
Labels: bird, co-workers, finch, office, reunion, trust, wildlife
1 Comments:
Gorgeous!
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