Thursday, December 28, 2006



My Darling Husband laughs at me. He says that I am a magnet for needy critters, and that they know a softie when they see one. It's hard to dispute it after a day like today!

The kids were playing in the backyard when Samara ran in to tell me that they had found a baby bird that couldn't fly. I went to investigate, and they had discovered this cheeky little guy, a young grey butcherbird, or rather, he discovered them. When I got there he almost immediately flew up to me, and sat about a metre away, squawking in that hungry, insistent, baby bird way. I know he's a carnivorous bird, but I had no raw meat to give him, so I got a couple of bread crusts and he took them, in tiny pieces, straight from my fingers. He even allowed the kids to stroke his feathers a little! He is able to fly, but as far as I can tell, has lost his parents a little too young. They are usually such fierce providers for their young that I have no doubt that he's an orphan. He has been hanging around the garden all afternoon, and now I assume he's off to find a place to sleep the night.

So now I have a little bit of lamb defrosting on the sink to mince up for him if he comes back tomorrow!

7 comments:

Megan said...

What a beauty! He's so lucky to have found you and the kids :)

Anonymous said...

How cute. Aww looking after the birdies.

I love your Christmas photos too! It looks like you had fun :)

_ said...

Wow, what a pretty bird he is. Hope he's going to be okay on his own.

Lisa said...

Well, I think that's a mighty fine quality to have. :) What a sweetie..the bird and you.

Tanya said...

Such a cute bird. Hope he's doing alright. Get the kids to find worms and other insects, and he'll probably be a 'pet' for life.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the rain (if it's still there - it's teasing us up north).

Happy new year to you all.

Sara Laughs said...

You live in the best place on the Earth, I'm convinced now. So did the bird make a repeat appearance?

Melissa said...

Oh - rescuing birds - I've done that a few times...you will have to let us know if you see him again...