Adventures in Ornithology

I'm not an animal guy. I love my dogs but that is where my general affection for the animal planet sharply declines. Krisi and I have saved the occasional turtle from near certain meetings with the Michelin man but we're not "save the whales" people by any means.

But last night, we were presented with a situation that we could not avoid or ignore. (I probably would have left the situation to be played out through Darwin's principles but I have learned that sometimes the fittest only survive with a little help from their friends-and Krisi had formed a protective bond with the little guy so he was effectively our responsibility)

This guy either fell or was pushed out of the nest by a super-mean sibling. The mom (pictured below) successfully built her nest(without giving written or verbal notice to the homeowners) directly under the second tallest point on our house resting on a bend in one of our gutter run-off pipes. The little guy fell and we maintain that he must have quasi-glided to the resting point at which he was found (next to one of our azalea bushes across the walkway from the aforementioned nest). We waited for a few hours to see if mom bird would/could pick the little one up and carry him back to the nest but by nightfall, we posited that the infant fowl would surely perish if not for the efforts of his humble landlords. Upon encouragement from my wife and the aid of a 12 foot extension ladder from my in-laws, I climbed to the summit with my young avian comrade and gently placed him back in his nest. Crisis was averted and a fowl victory was achieved.

I wore gloves to minimize the "human scent" on the young base jumper. From what we've been able to gather, he has been welcomed back into the nest. No word yet on an angry older brother or a fattened calf feast.

The nest itself has been given a temporary stay of execution.

Have no fear, the landlords have decided to allow the bird family to stay until each of the young possess the ability to transport him/herself to an alternate locale.