An Unexpected Find

Yesterday while out collecting catalogues, on the way back to the car I heard a rustling sound and then a Pigeon flew from the tree that I was about to walk past.  It had shot out the tree very sudden, so sudden that I stopped walking. 

My eye diverted to the right and there struggling on its back was another Pigeon. It had fallen from the tree.  Its claws flickered and moved several times as did his beak that kept opening and closing as if to grasp every bit of oxygen that he could.  I had never seen a bird in these circumstances before, neither had mum who was with me also and was as equally shocked as I.

         “It’s alive.  What should we do?” Mum asked.  I didn’t know on the spot, but ringing the RSPCA sprang to mind.  Would they be open on Sunday?  I didn’t know and neither did mum.  We’d have to find the number of course and then a thought popped into mind.  I had thought of somebody, a friend.

         “Let’s wrap it up and take it to Mr Flue,” I said.  He was a friend I had spoken to on a number of occasions and I knew that he knew of someone who kept an Avery of birds.  So mum, with the spare plastic bag I use to protect my notebook from the rain, wrapped it up gently and then we both walked to the car.

While sat in the car holding the Pigeon, it was then that I noticed that the poor creature’s left eye was tightly clasped shut. Some sort of orange substance had been pulled away from the eye.  That’s probably why his eye lid was tightly closed.   His eye had been pecked out by the other Pigeon that had flown off in such a hurry.  Although, there wasn’t any sign of blood.

The Pigeon looked great apart from his wounded eye, although he was still opening and closing his beak; now that was a worry, but that’s how we knew he was still alive because of that.  He was the colour of white and pale blue.  Never had I seen a wild bird as up close as this before, so naturally I thought the creature looked amazing and quite exquisite.