June 2010 - Drama in the garden!

Friday 4th: A usual working-day morning - came down to breakfast at 7:15am, put the kettle on, but no sooner had I made and was about to take a bite of toast, topped with strawberry jam, I was stopped in mid bite. A rapid wing beat from a large bird startled me. Grabbing my camera, I rushed outside expecting that the local Sparrowhawk had caught something! Imagine my suprise when I was presented with the scene as shown in this photo; a Wood Pigeon hanging upside down, wings splayed and motionless. All the other birds; Sparrows, Starlings and the Feral Pigeons just ignored it and calmly went about their business.

The unfortunate Wood Pigeon was trapped by it's leg and would never have freed itself from this predicament! The bird was surprisingly calm and motionless, it was not even struggling to free itself! Having a look, it was just a matter of gently folding the birds' wings, holding it with both hands and lifting the bird free and in an instant...it had flown. Shaken by it's ordeal, it nethertheless was in one piece and with no breakages, flew off to eat somewhere else.

Usually, this bird and other Wood Pigeons tend to perch on the fatball holder as it's just the right height from the sunflower feeder and they can eat fairly comfortably. On this occasion, the Wood Pigeon must have slipped and put it's leg through the gap between the two metal rods that hold the fatball feeder to the pole. As it's leg went through the gap, the bird went over the side, immobilising it! Fortunately the leg did not appear to be damaged in any way. One lucky Pigeon!