Some things seem to happen in threes. The past couple of days have been filled with bird drama for me. . . three different dramas.
Yesterday I rescued a sharp shinned hawk that had a body injury that prevented it from flying. Some people had found it and were able to bring it into their home where it perched on the back of a chair until one of the children got too close and frightened it into a dark closet from which I extracted it. I won’t be able to learn its fate until tomorrow.
This morning, Bobo seems to have injured some wing feathers when she frightened herself by flipping the lid off of a large container she was examining with her beak. She was startled into a wing flap and beat her wing against a heavy dish on the counter. She can’t seem to get the feathers to return to their normal positions and when she tries, she “barks” in pain so I’m keeping an eye on her. Of course it’s Sunday and my vet’s office is closed. (1:00 PM Update: Bobo seems fine, most of the feathers have twisted back in place and it appears only one feather is broken and still dangling. She doesn’t seem to be in distress any longer.)
A few minutes ago I looked outside and saw a cedar waxwing perched on a rock in my fountain. His body was unnaturally fluffed and he seemed stunned. I went out and he didn’t move off the rock. His droppings indicated he’d been eating photinea berries from the shrub over the fountain. I took a few photos and went inside so I wouldn’t disturb him more than I already had. I watched him for a while and he suddenly started moving his head around and then he jumped back into the photinea and began eating. I hope he’s okay. He’s gone now. Here are a couple of the shots I took of him.
Focal Length 300mm
ISO 200
f/5.6
1/80
SOOC
Three photos above
Focal Length 220mm
ISO 200
f/5.3
1/80
SOOC
Wow- lots of bird drama! The hawk rescue sounds difficult- you are becoming such a pro! And poor Bobo- I can almost feel what that feels like. I hope she gets some relief soon. I love your cedar waxwing photos! They are such pretty birds. I tried photographing flocks of them in Wyoming, but I just couldn’t get good focus on them (there were huge flocks migrating for a day or two while we were there at Thanksgiving). Your photos, on the other hand, are beautifully focused and detailed. Well done!