Before I go to the Smith stuff, just thought I'd tell you about Beccy my cat's latest escapade!! and about a nice birds site I found whilst searching for info about blue-tits!

Now Nursing a Little Bird in my Bathroom,
that the cat brought in!! :ck-hrrmm:

Beccy brought in a little bird this afternoon :ck-sad:. I think its a baby blue tit, or maybe a baby great tit. I walked in the living room & there it was lying on one side, on the floor, :ck-horrified: with Beccy just having a good look at it. I thought the bird was dead at first but must have just been stunned.

Shoo'd Beccy away, then saw that the bird was twitching a bit, :ck-smile: so picked him up and put him in a little nest I made (just a soft towel in a round biscuit tin!! with a little space so I can keep an eye on him, & he can see out). Put the "nest" on a high ledge in the bathroom, where the cats don't get to.

Keep having a peep. He's now awake & "sat up" & shuffling about a bit, but seems quite content. So tiny!! Will wait until I'm sure he's not injured before setting him free.

Looked on British Garden Birds site for some info on blue-tits & great-tits. (Lovely site if you like birds) Copied these thumbnails from the page
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/bluetit.htm
Adult Blue-tit
copyright David Morris - full-size image at
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/images/blue_tit1.jpg

Nestling
copyright David Gains - full-size image at
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/images/blue_tit8.jpg

Fledgling
copyright David Gains - full-size image at
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/images/blue_tit41.jpg

Mine looks as though he is the age that comes in between Nestling & Fledgling, so maybe it was the first time he'd ventured from the nest? (or he might have fallen out of the nest - as I think there is one at the edge of our roof at the end of the gutter - but a long way to fall!!).

But his markings are more defined - like the "Juvenile" below, but I'm certain he's not this big yet, but I could be wrong (he's about 2 & half inches long, that's all)

Juvenile
(copyright Bob Young - full-size image at
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/images/blue_tit11.jpg

Now looking for some food for him!! a caterpillar maybe? :shrug]:
Just spent a month getting rid of greenfly & ants from the garden!! Now I want some - can't find any!! It doesn't mention on that Birds site if blue-tits eat worms??? Plenty of those! Will get some bird seeds from my son - he has pet birds.

Will keep little bird overnight & see how he is in the morning. Aaah - so cute. Hope he'll be OK. Seems happy enough at the moment!!

Named the bird "Little Wing"

This morning he had fluttered down from the ledge to the bathroom floor. But couldn't flutter back up again. He's trying hard to fly........

Can flutter downwards, but not upwards or horizontally yet.

But he's hopping OK. Have put a little table in the bathroom - a mini "bird-Table" with some food & water. He's hopping to and from the Table to the edge of the bath & the shelves.

He definitely doesn't seem to have any injuries & I think its probable that he was just about to learn how to fly anyway. Thats how he ended up falling into my garden & my cat bringing him in!! So you could say in a way, that my Beccy the Cat rescued him, without realising it!

So Little Wing keeps trying to fly. Stands on my finger & hops onto my arm then onto my shoulder now, chirping away there merrily in the Bathroom!!

I'll keep Little Wing until I know he can fly OK, then will set him free. Once he can fly upwards, he should then be able to get back to his proper nest on the roof.

The cats are wondering where the heck the chirping is coming from!!

Carole

Oh thats so cute Carole, well done in saving him, do hope Little Wing flies soon and goes back to his family



For a lovely little story

Chellin

Hello Mummy Wing,

I think it sounds as though you have been adopted, you will miss little wing when he goes. Each year we have blue tits nest in the bird box in our garden and they are lovely , we miss them when they fledge and all is quiet again.

mattycat

Haaa haa Mummy Wing!! I like it!!

Yes - Little Wing's not frightened of me at all. Now willingly fluttering onto my arm - every time I go into the bathroom!! & chirps to me!! as if he's talking to me, its really comical!! haa haa. Flying slightly longer distances now - 2-3ft horizontally too now.

Put some of my house-plants in the bathroom now for him. He likes them - sitting on the leaves of the Rubber plant & pecking at the Geranium seeds that have fallen from the dead-heads. Also other Seeds & nuts - so he's plenty to go at!!

I've changed my mind about which stage he's up to & I now think he's early "Juvenile". (based on what I see on the images I posted at the top - I'm no bird expert!!)

Oh gosh - I've bonded with him. Yes, I'll miss him when he goes, you're right mattycat :

Carole

Carole,

We have blue tits nest in our box and they flew early this year they are so cute and I love their antics so I would guess he has been out of the nest a bit and is able to fed himself/herself.

So it's Mummy Wings daily blog from now on and we will all miss him when he goes...

mattycat

Hi mattycat,

Yes, Little Wing is able to feed himself, so as you say he's probably been out of the nest for quite a while. Perhaps his wings (or might be her??) were in fact slightly damaged when Beccy grabbed him which caused his difficulty in flying. But he's definitely getting better at it now. So cute!!

Carole

Early this morning the woodpecker came to feed and her young one was sat on the hedge watching. One day last week we had two fighting in the air near our feeders .. pity the camera was in a cupboard lol.

mattycat

Nice to see another pic of one of your visiting woodpeckers, mattycat.
I think its quite relaxing watching birds & their antics sometimes!!
Not so sure about seeing them fight though! :ck-shocked:

Well Little Wing has flown free. :(hearts):



.... through the clouds, with a circus mind
thats running round butterflies and
zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales,
what does he think about, riding with the wind.
he came to me with a thousand chirps he gave to me free,
its alright, he chirped, its alright, you looked after me,

............................... .....Fly on Little Wing, yes, Little Wing....

............[A:ck-smile: my adaptation of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing", 1967

Oh Carole you will miss him but he did need to go and fend for himself... it's a bit like the film Born Free ..

September 07

Hi all,

Can't believe that was back in June!! Wonder where Little Wing is now!! Just been having a tidy up of old Topics in Pet Lovers & the "other hobbies" board. In "other hobbies" we have a Topic "Birds in the Garden" - and my "Little Wing" story above was included there. So decided to split it & move it to a separate Topic, here in Pet Lovers, especially for my "Little Wing"!!

Carole