As always, on every Friday, I’m in a mad dash to get out the door to go to the gym. Being my old age, I still find I need some exercise to keep my old body in shape. And I have to get there at a specific time because if I don’t, the machines I use are taken.
So it was today, I was driving down my road and I saw a large brownish ball in the middle. I knew quickly it was a bird. And it wasn’t moving. It wasn’t flattened either.
Just behind me was my neighbor, driving to meet some friends to walk. I couldn’t find a driveway close enough to turn around until a quarter mile down the road. All the time I was hoping she wouldn’t drive over the bird. Once I did turn around, I saw a car coming down the road, headed for the bird. But it didn’t run over it.
So I parked my car at the side and turned on my flashers, hoping no one would come around the curve and hit me. I walked up to the bird, a brown thrasher. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Thrasher/overview
A beautiful male brown thrasher who looked stunned. It’s amazing when birds and animals reach out. It’s as if their eyes penetrate us, saying they need help. And so it was with this bird.
I stooped down and picked it up, cuddling it in my hands. Of course, he was squawking quite a bit. His left wing wasn’t moving and his feathers were so very soft! I wanted to take him home and heal him but didn’t know how. He kept up his squawking until I gently rubbed the top of his head and spoke softly to him. This calmed him down.
I didn’t think he had a chance of surviving, so I placed him somewhere he would be comfortable; the tall grass at the side of the road, as they like bushes. I’d rather he be there, with the green all around him than laying flat in the middle of the road, when it came for his time to transition.
I can’t say he lived or died, but the look on his small face seemed to tell me, “Thank You”. Then I got back in my car, turned off my flashers, and drove to the gym.
Aunt Mayme's Attic 