Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Baby House Sparrow


My next door neighbour called me over to put a baby bird back into the nest. It was a house sparrow that had fallen out of the low rafters and had survived the fall to the concrete. My neighbour couldn't manage to do it as he had broken a rib and being the soft-hearted caring fella he was, he called me from over to help. My husband stood by for a couple of quick photos. We noted his brightly coloured mouth; no doubts for the parents where the mouth is! (Hubby said it looked like a sad clown mouth.)
After groping blindly with a tentative hand above my head, I managed to figure out where the occupied nest was ( there seemed to be several nests on the go) and felt the beak of another nest-mate ( they were all being quiet and holding their breath while this monstrous thing groped around) and then I tipped the bird back in and you should have heard all the peeping from his siblings! And yes, I know house sparrows are the bane of existence, right up there with starlings, ivy and purple loosestrife, but I couldn't let the little thing bake in the 32 degree heat. No way.
For all my moaning to my husband about invasive species, at least I know I'm a hypocrite :)

5 comments:

  1. This is so soft and well done in my opinion. I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful story! Yeh, I know, when it comes down to a choice between life and The Way It Should Be, with invasive species, I have a little trouble myself. Beautifully done!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Ricky and Kate. A great story and you have a soft heart. It is imposible to turn away from babies in trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The right kind of hypocrite! Lovely heartfelt story and sketch.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks all! (I'm glad I haven't been banished! LOL)

    ReplyDelete

We'd love to hear from you, your questions, comments, observations! Please feel free to comment, feedback is important to us.