Birds are nesting in the barn, a family of robins and great tits are already in residence and the swallows are casing the joint. I am happy about this, Darcey the cat is ecstatic about this, she might be sixteen years of age, but there is life in the old girl yet.
This week she has killed a swallow, I found it on the porch floor, on close inspection its feathers were a beautiful iridescent blue I was going to photograph them for you; but it had rained by the time I could get to the taskand it all looked very soggy and sad by then.
Then last night it was the was the robins that fell foul of the cat, equally sad
This morning I went into the barn and heard cheeping and so had Darcey, so I scooped Darcey up and took her inside, as far as she is concerned the opportunity of a day dossing on Tom’s bed, the other side of a stair-gate from Spud is a fair pay off for leaving the chicks be . I retuned to the cheeping, eventually I found it was coming from a black plastic dustbin, under some rubbish, there in the very bottom I found another robin chick
Once rescued it was reluctant to leave my finger, I had what I thought was a brain wave, I’ll put it in Spuds travel crate, with a nice shady shoe box to hide in for an hour or so then its parents can pop in and feed it safe from predatory cats to let it recover from it’s ordeal… This worked for just as long as it took the chick to realise it could hop out of the crate. So in the end we left it for nature to take it’s course. Fingers crossed that it managed to somewhere safe.
May 14, 2011 at 5:08 pm
It’s always sad to see a downed bird. Sometimes they manage to fly smack into my windows, breaking their necks, but I know Miss Puss is guilty of depredations too. Here’s hoping the little robin overcomes its difficult youth and grows into a prosperous elderly robin, dining out on the tale of how it survived its encounter with the Monstrous Mystery Mammals.
May 14, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I have a large window on the front of my lounge/living room — I’ve found those plastic “decals” that stick to the window by static electricity are a good deterrent to “bird strikes” — there are some lovely ones that resemble suncatchers. Always sad when chicks are jostled/jump out/pushed out of nests. I hope the culprit was not a cuckoo or cowbird chick.
May 14, 2011 at 6:24 pm
I think they were ready to fledge, I’ve not yet found their nest it is deep within the barn somewhere and I think that was the problem, getting from the nest to the outside world and the safety of a high tree was a perilous journey. I haven’t heard a cookoo around here for decades, although my mum has told me only today that she heard one early today, I’ll listen out
May 14, 2011 at 6:33 pm
I well remember such instances when young as we always had cats and birds nesting in the garden. Mum was forever telling the cats off and rescuing chicks, as well as dealing with dead birds.
I love that last but one photo, and hope that it survives such an ordeal! xx
May 14, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Our last cat was a serious threat to the local birdlife, who also knew how to get the collar (with bell) off his neck. Savage little beast. Our current one just stays indoors, mrrrrp-ing at any birds who fly too close. And running away from wasps (sensible girl).
May 14, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Poor birds! They’re lucky to have you on their side. Beautiful photos.
May 15, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Nature doesn’t always have the heart that we humans do toward the young and vulnerable. But she seems to make things work well overall.
May 15, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Our swallows have been divebombing the neighbour’s cat (as well as a predatory red squirrel) but they’ve so far stayed well out of reach of her paws. I worry about when the fledglings emerge though