Walking in the snow yesterday my daughter and I came upon this beautiful red finch. He let us come right up to him and seemed unable to open his eyes. Concerned that he was stranded in the middle of the road, I turned our umbrella upside down and set it down in front of him. He gently hopped in and peacefully let us walk him home. Very sweet, but not usual or healthy behavior for a finch.
Tucking the umbrella in a protected and covered corner of our porch, I hoped that a quite place to warm up a bit would help. Indeed, it seemed to work as he flew off a few hours later. I made sure to stock up our bird feeder in case he comes back hungry.
My dad was a lover of birds and the wild world at large. He passed that love on to me, as I hope to do with my children. My son’s recent birthday request of a web cam for the bird feeder in his room (so he can watch them at school) and my daughters squeals of glee for all animals we encounter seem to say we’re on our way.