The Great Feathered Friend Rescue

I’ve been busy these past few days. Actually, these past few weeks! Okay, I’m always busy. It just isn’t in my nature to be bored or to even sit still. I thrive on activity! But for the past five or six weeks, I’ve been working extra long, long hours in preparation for the AQS Quilt Show in Des Moines, Iowa from October 8 – 12, (and on another special project I hope to be able to share with you all very soon….) I will be flying to the states next Monday with my quilting pal, Nadine, and we’ll spend the week at the show. I’ll be  teaching a full compliment of classes. I’m excited; I can hardly wait!

But, I have digressed from the point of this post. Yesterday morning, as I was hard at work in my quilt studio, I heard a loud “thump.” It was a sickening sort of thud, and I knew immediately what caused the sound. A bird had flown straight into the window! I rushed outside and looked on the ground amidst all the bushes and saw the most pathetic little bird, on his back, with wings spread, and his neck bent at a strange angle. At first, I thought he was dead — most likely from a broken neck. But then, I noticed he was still breathing.

I couldn’t just leave him there to die, so I picked him up. He was so dazed he didn’t try to fly or get away. It was cold and windy outside, so I carried him back into my sewing room and held him in my hand for a few minutes just to let him catch his breath.

He finally started to move a little bit and seemed to recover a tiny bit. I set him on a pile of the jelly roll strips I had on my cutting table, and he seemed quite content to stay still for awhile. The cats were curious about the visitor, but I give them credit: they eyed this little guy from a safe distance. Safe for the bird, that is.

I continued to work on my project, and my new little friend stayed perched on the fabric pile for about 10 minutes. Finally, he chirped. Then he chirped a couple more times. While I would liked to have kept this beautiful new friend in the house for a a little while longer, I thought it best to return him to the great outdoors, in our back yard in an obliging tree. He stayed in the tree for approximately ten minutes more, and then finally — happily — flew away.

I went back to work but I must say, I felt very happy to have saved the little fellow. In fact, I put out our bird feeder (which was built by my Dad as a Christmas present for me last year) and I filled it with birdseed. I love having birds right outside my door in the back yard. I just hope they avoid flying into the windows from now on!