Friday, January 15, 2010

The Mask of Zorro - Conclusion


Having an injured bird is somewhat like having a baby in the house.  It is a continual distraction, because even if the baby is napping, it is always on your mind and you are subconsciously listening for sounds.  The photo above is the flock of waxwings that had visited my yard weeks ago.  Perhaps they were the cousins or uncle or aunts of this little one?

It was a long day and we did not reach the rescue house until way after dark.  We struggled to find our way through the nest of houses and cul de sacs in the city suburbs.  The lovely GPS our children had bought us for Christmas was no real help!  It seemed this subdivision, while not new, was off the data map and in some bird twilight zone.

Zorro seemed to be fine in the back seat although initially he was a little nervously active and I worried about him damaging more wing feathers.

As we eventually pulled into the driveway of the rescue house I saw a large furry cat sitting on a cat stand in the window.  But (fortunately) the cat quickly disappeared when I rang the doorbell, and a little lap dog greeted us with high energy, and thankfully no yapping.

Lynn, the rescue lady, takes in all kinds of birds and ends up keeping the hawks and raptors that cannot be returned to the wild as her personal mission. She has an inspiring video on her web site where she recently released a bald eagle that had been rehabilitated.  

She took Zorro and ran her fingers carefully and expertly along the wings and seemed to feel that nothing was broken.  She did explain that it was not unusual for a bird to sprain a wing while flying because of these high wind gusts.

Her laundry room was filled with a gray parrot, and two other smaller parrots that I did not recognize, that had been abandoned by incompetent owners.  While they were noisy it was not the deafening noise you normally hear in a pet store filled with parrots.

Her garage held a number of wild birds for rehabilitation including a seriously damaged Cooper's hawk that had been hit by a police car.  She kept it in a very small cage so that he would not further injure himself.  

She had prepared a little cage for Zorro but I did not take photos in order to avoid disturbing all the feathered friends nearby.

We talked birds for a little while, but we had to head to our daughter`s house in the city.  It was hard to say good-bye because we had gotten attached to Zorro and hubby had actually started negotiating with me to keep the bird before we turned him (or her) over to rescue.  We felt better to know that Zorro was in good and experienced hands.

Lynn sent an email several days later that indicated Zorro was doing fine and eating well, although still not flying but she said that she had high hopes he would repair soon.  This is a good enough ending for us for now, it will have to be.

10 comments:

  1. Oh dear! I mean I am glad that he has got someone who knows how to care for him but still...I would have had a hard time letting him go too! That would have been a sad parting. It was great that she emailed you and I hope he can recover and rejoin his family. Thanks for the update
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  2. I'm glad that Zorro is in expert hands. I think you made a wise choice before you got too attached to the little guy.

    I wrote a story about the birds in my life and one was a Turtle Dove that my sister rescued. He lived freely in my mother's house for years and had a few near misses along the way.

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  3. oh you lovely person; that is just the sort of thing I would do too.

    I am spending hours every day feeding the wild birds in the garden in these winter conditions, they are costing me a packet, but I just cannot bear the thought that they might not survive for lack of food.
    We haven't been able to get out and buy more food, so when the bought food ran out I raided the freezers and the larder. I have almost completely used up last summer's berries, oats and nuts and seeds meant for my own breakfast, the last apples,
    stale cakes - anyway I said they were stale - and anything else I could sneak out. Beloved has been looking for his wholemeal biscuits, guess where they went.

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  4. I've would have been sad to let him go too but at least he is in good hands. Hopefully, you'll get another email soon saying that he is flying. Then it would be all worth it.

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  5. That is wonderful news. We do get attached to critters, don't we?

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  6. How appropriate. I spent an hour or two last night trying to get a bird out of the house. It flew in when I was on the porch shaking rugs. I got him in one room and did everything I could to direct it to the open window, meanwhile it shat on my computer monitor and other places. I left it along for an hour, came back and it was still in the room. At one point it smashed into the overhead light and I thought it was dead but came back revived. Finally with us both wore out I put a towel over it and ushered it out the window. I can't stop thinking about if it lived or died from that shock.

    Zorro is beautiful and so trusting. I'm glad he's doing better and hope he'll be flying again soon.

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  7. I'm glad for people like Lynn who have this sort of expertise.. and people like you who are there for these critters. I'm sure you'll update us should you learn more. Thanks, Tabor. :)

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  8. You absolutely did the right thing, Tabor. It was best to get Zorro to someone who was familiar with wild birds. That was his best chance of recovery, and it was wise of you to recognize that.

    Do you know the say, "He loved too well, if not wisely"?

    You loved both wisely and well :-)

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  9. I've enjoyed reading your saga about Zorro. It was so touching that he initially trusted you to help him. Poor little bird. Such a beauty!
    I hope he recovers quickly. Isn't it wonderful that there are kind and knowledgable people who are willing to care for the hurt and damaged wild creatures (including you and your hubby)?

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