Firstly, the latest update on Ollie Beak, the Little Owl I rescued on Tuesday...he's doing very well, eating and getting stronger by the hour, so things are looking good for the little fella so far. I'm hoping he will be able to be released back into his territory in time.
Today we had the heaviest, most sustained rainfall I've ever seen in my life. The lane outside my house, which has quite a slope on it (the lane, not my house) became a brown torrent of a river. I went outside with an umbrella to have a look at my guttering where Niagara Falls was cascading down onto my bedroom window-ledge, and noticed a Blackbird chick had been flushed from its nest and had succumbed to the deluge; then I saw a Gatekeeper butterfly (above) flapping as it, too, was swept along on the river. I managed to pluck the hapless insect from the water as it swept past me, and had to repair its wings which were folded over in the wet, before they dried out malformed, rendering it unable to fly. This required a delicate operation with tweezers. After putting the bedraggled butterfly in a box for an hour to dry out, I released it back into the garden and it settled on the underside of a bramble leaf. Second animal rescue of the week done.
I must pay tribute too, to a Songthrush (above) who sings relentlessly from dawn till dusk and well beyond, every single day, perched high on a variety of trees and bushes in my garden. After the cloudburst was over, he found one of his vantage points and set forth again with his exultation. The little minstrel sang his heart out until 9.45 this evening, and doubtless will resume his post before 5am tomorrow.
Peter, I found your blog from Valerie Pirlot's. I really admire your paintings and photos as well as your writing so I've signed up to follow it. I especially liked the story of the little owl. I've often tried to rescue wounded animals. I've had several pet one winged sea gulls, baby doves, and squirrels that had to be fed milk with eve droppers.
ReplyDeleteDoug
Thanks Doug, glad to have you aboard! Well done with your animal rescues - still enough of us about who care for our fellow creatures!
Deleteen donde vivo yo , pasa todo el verano desde mediados de invierno , es cuando aparecen ,yo les hecho migas de pan ,cerca de casa y los veo como acuden y comentarios ,son bastante confiadosencillo ,e encanta observarlos .. cuando llegan de su migración a acuden a comer..
ReplyDeleteTenemos muy pocos Songthrushes aquí ahora Maria - solían ser bastante comunes, pero ahora son escasos, tristemente. ¡Pájaros hermosos y canción hermosa sin embargo!
DeleteToday I got to do a review of Richard Caddel and his poetry about throstles.
ReplyDeleteYou can check out my review of his work from his "Larksong Signal" https://thepoempros.com/2020/04/16/poetry-hour-epsidoe-4/