Here's Birdie the Second having a bath in our birdbath.
It took him a while to get the hang of it!
NB: A warning about photographing birds (and many other creatures). They think that the lens is a huge eye and it terrifies them. Humans are their predators anyway so imagine how they feel when we pick up a huge "eye" and aim it at them!

This is Birdie the Second's Very Own Story,
A Diary of His Life

Birdie the Second came to us just before Christmas, 2000. Dave found him on the golfcourse, having fallen out of his nest in a huge pine tree. He was a little ball of fluff, but at least had covering. (Birdie the First had no fluff at all, and we raised her to a fullgrown adult then released her through Bird Rescue.) I brought him home in a cardboard box.

I allowed Birdie to be in the garden as much as possible. He had his own trees and could sit on top of the trellis archway, which was perfect for him. He would take food from me (below I give the infant mixture to use for blackbirds), bob around then sit and snooze under the leaves of the climbing roses in the shade.

After the first two days, two blackbirds began to feed him. I was ecstatic. I thought all our problems were solved. But it was not to be. After a few feeds, they realised he wasn't theirs and left him (although I do wonder that if I'd left him outside with them at night, they might have accepted him but I couldn't risk that with such a young bird).

So Birdie took up residence in the laundry and in the victorian mirror in my office. The mirror was a good idea because Birdie could talk to himself (a very big talker, he is!) and he could see that he was a blackbird and so identify with the right species.

I taught Birdie to eat worms and snails (he took to this with alacrity...later, he seems to have gone off worms -"icky" is written all over his expression - but it may be only the very big worms) and he began to find titbits himself.

Flying!click your stop button on your browser if this flapping is annoying. I know it annoys me! So why is it here? Ummm...)
This was such fun, to watch him begin to enjoy the wonder and excitement of it. But it wasn't without worrisome times. He took his first long-ish flight into the big pine tree next door at quite a young age. I could hear him yelling out to me and went over. Two cats were waiting under the tree for him. I shooed them off. Birdie was so frightened. He wouldn't come down, couldn't come down! I eventually went away. An hour later, I called him and he called back again (VERY loudly!). I went over again. He looked down at me with trepidation. He hopped back and forth, bent down to fly down to me ("How come she can't fly up and help me like any good bird-Mum?"), hopped back again, bent down.... After ten minutes of this, he took the plunge and flew towards me, trying to steer correctly after only a few flying trials in his whole little life. He landed on the fence beside me, then flew at me, claws out and grabbed hold of my top. I held him in my hand and softly stroked him. He was trembling and cooing. Poor little fellow. Brave little guy. He overcame his fear, realised I couldn't fly to him and came down to me where the cats might get him, as far as he knew. What trust.

Learning more
I remember when he first saw a helicopter. He was sitting on the tree beside me. The helicopter came over, quite high up. Birdie cocked his head and looked up at it, all surprise and curiosity but not fear. He was just awe-struck. I remember as a child seeing an aeroplane flying in the sky. It seemed very small. My sister said that people were in it! I said, how could that be? She laughed at me. And so, we all have to learn and Birdie is learning, too. He is very precocious.

He only responds to my particular call. And he doesn't like other people either. That's good. He must be able to return to the wild. He is afraid of cats, too. That's very good. I just pray he is protected from them. I love cats. But I understand the predatory nature of our world. One day "the cat shall lay down with the bird", but until then I must keep them apart!

He is loving his freedom. Soon I may let him go again at the golf-course, where it is safer for him, although he loves it here and has discovered rooves. He had not realised that he could land on rooves, only trees. Then a few days ago (he's been with us about 3 weeks now), the roof-adventure began. I think he saw sparrows landing on it so he decided that he could, too. Now he swoops and dives around our garden and nearby, landing high up in trees or feeding on the ground when the male blackbird comes by.

Wednesday Jan 3, 2001-
We had a real fright for Birdie last Sunday. Dave and I went to church in Warkworth in the morning. I left some food for Birdie on the roof and we left about 9.30am. Mum was unwell so we went to her place after church and didn't get home until 12.30, so Birdie was 3 hours without a feed. He has done alright with 2 hours absence before but this time there was no sign of him when we got home. I called and called but he didn't come. By that evening we were convinced he was dead and imagined the worst. I remembered how frightened he had been of the cats waiting for him that day and I was so saddened. I thought that there must be nothing successful in my life. We were both pretty depressed about Birdie. That night fireworks were let off all over the neighbourhood as it was New Year's Eve. We thought that Birdie's survival was not likely.

I slept poorly and when Dave awoke to go to his early morning round at work, I got up shortly later at 6.30am and went outside to call Birdie. Nothing. I went down into the garden, looked under the neighbour's house, over fences, called repeatedly. Nothing. I waited an hour and did the same again. Nothing.
At 8.30am, I decided to take Tuppy (my elderly pusskin, a real sweetie) for a walk in the garden. He had been a little neglected lately and had been showing that he felt that way. It was very quiet as it was New Year's Day. Tuppy stopped to sniff around. I walked down through the gate into the bottom garden. I leaned over the fence, looking into the bush. A flutter of wings made me look up, expecting it to be another sparrow or the male blackbird which lives in our garden. The bird did a swooping dive in front of me then went up and landed on a branch six feet above my head. He looked at me and chirruped. I looked. I looked again. "Birdie!!" I cried. He chirruped again then sang. "Birdie! Birdie!" I was ecstatic. I thought it may be a dream, I was so convinced he was gone forever. But no. He was alive! I talked to him a little then said, "Are you hungry?" and walked towards the gate. I looked back towards him and he crouched and looked like an eagle about to fly. He spread his wings, took off then swooped and landed on my head. I walked up to the house. He stayed on my head a while then flew off to the roof. I went up and fed him through our bedroom window. He sat there, chirruping and talking.

Dave was away all day. I made a sign for the front door,"He's back!" and when Dave came home he could hardly believe it either. His face lit up. "I prayed for a miracle!" he said. Well, we had one. From then on, Birdie has not left our garden except to roost at night. I part feed him and he part feeds himself. He sits outside the window on the roof at times and calls me. He has so many different calls, many more than other blackbirds. He is beginning to feed himself more and more. I hope to have him feeding himself with just a very small supplement from me. He may eventually fly away, especially if he finds a mate. Right now, he has a black tail and lower body, the rest is still mainly baby-blackbird speckling.

Thursday, 11 January, 2001-
Birdie is still in our garden but needing me less and less. He still looks very much as he did in my last entry. He comes to the roof to feed but not so often. He answers my call but less quickly. He sleeps out at night all the time. I pray for him always, that he will be smart and wise and able to learn well. He seems to have. Dave saw him yesterday with a snail. I was delighted. I had never seen him actually find his own snail, although I taught him how to break their shells and he ate them with delight. Anyway, Dave said that sparrows were running after him trying to get his food (they are used to getting the crumbs from his food on the roof). But he ran off and ate it all himself. He seems to often be near the male blackbird, too. Today it was raining heavily, and yesterday, too. But he doesn't seem to mind it. He doesn't come and press his face up against the upstairs window so much now. About a week ago, he woke Dave and I up really early (about 6.30am), yelling for his breakfast and he would be there every morning about 8.30am after that. I didn't get up as soon as he called, though, as he needs to be "weaned" off me. But he still comes hop-hopping across the roof to me to get some mince or apple. (Dave says it's more like walking because Birdie's been copying me!)

Thursday, 15 February, 2001-
Birdie has now left us and is only coming now and then to the garden. Funnily enough, another young blackbird has started to come. This blackbird was also brought up in our garden, but by her own mother. Her mother has now left her and Sweetie-bird teams up with our Birdie now and then. But even if Birdie isn't here, Sweetie is, and I give her some food on the roof once or twice a day. She doesn't need it, of course, and forages for herself but she likes the attention. (Yeah, well, that's my story anyway!)

I must tell you about how Birdie left us. He was feeding off the roof as usual, flying to his trees, coming back, most of the day. Then, one day, he came once in the morning then I didn't see him all day. Of course I worried that something ghastly had happened to him. Then he turned up last thing at night (about 8.30pm) and Sweetie was there also. Sweetie is bigger than Birdie and gave him a boof when they landed on the roof to feed. Birdie didn't like it and I do wonder if he decided to leave us at that time. Anyway, he went into the big tree beside the house and Dave and I both noticed - (Dave didn't say this till later and he voiced what I had thought at the time!) - that he turned his back as if he was leaving us (he had always sat facing us). Maybe he thought Sweetie had taken his place, I don't know. Maybe a younger bird (and Sweetie is a little younger than him), takes precedence in the wild and the older birds have to shove off and find food elsewhere. Well, whatever happened, Birdie is now completely independent, which is a major victory for me in raising birds and returning them to the wild without any help from Bird Rescue. Birdie is free to fly where he wants, to sleep up high in a big tree (which he loves), to talk with the other blackbirds and live his life soaring and roaming the gardens and hedges. For me, it is a wonderful feeling to know I helped him do that.

Looking After Baby!

If you are looking after a very young blackbird with little or no feathers, keep her warm in something like a padded sewing basket. Use soft blankets over a warm hot water bottle. Keep her in a quiet but airy place with the lid of the basket open enough to allow air in. Ensure animals and children do not come near nor touch her. Teach children to look only, not touch, and only allow them near Birdie when you are present, too. The less human contact the better, if you want to return Birdie to the wild. Don't allow other pets in the same room as Birdie, ever.

As she grows, she will want to get out of the basket. Make sure the room is safe for her before you allow her out of it. Door shut, heaters off, fans off, electricity off, petflap shut.

It can be worrying when they start to flex their wings. Again, ensure the safety of the room. Remember that you may have to retrieve her so a small room is best and one that has no tiny spaces she can fall into. With birds in the house, you must think safety ALL the time.

HERE'S MY
GUESTBOOK!
I'D LOVE YOU TO SIGN IT
View The Acorn Tree    Sign The Acorn Tree