Small Robin Adventure

Walking the "back forty", usually with my small canine friends in tow, is usually a minor excursion into the wild-- just a meander through the wooded area behind our house. Yesterday morning we were rounding the curve of the foot path when I noticed an anxious fluttering happening near the tarp covering a woodpile back there. I could see immediately that a bird was caught in something and knew the dogs would go wild. So I turned around before they noticed the excitement and hitched them up on the lawn.

Grabbing a nail clipper and a handy pair of shears from inside, I returned to the flapping scene, telling myself to be very calm and reassuring so as not to further panic the bird. A young male robin tangled in a fibrous shred of the blue tarp wrapped around his leg flapped even more as I approached and another bird I had not noticed flew up from the green undergrowth nearby.

I used both hands to cap the terrified bird from above, folding his wings against his body and murmuring softly to him. He quieted and I was able to see how the stringy tarp shreds were wrapped tightly around his right foot. It took a few minutes to carefully clip with the shears close to the scrawny foot to release the fibers. I had to work the stuff loose, cut close, and finally the foot was free. I put the bird down right side up and opened my hand. He flew off fast and that was that.

Later I heard the robins as I worked the back flower garden. Wish I could know what they were saying.

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