Found a Fledgling Chickadee in the garden today
Ohhhhh poor baby…I went out in my yard with my hot tea in the evening and was sitting, taking in the garden and the peacefulness…..when I suddenly heard splashing in my small wildlife watering hole
I went over to investigate and here was a tiny chickadee in fledgling feather flapping for his life in the water. My guess is he must have just fallen in or he would have been more exhausted.
I scooped his little shivering body up out of the water and cradled him in my hands and called to Steve to grab the camera and he got these pix.
It’s a very hard call to know what to do with these "almost ready for flight" babies when I find them. He was fine but cold so I warmed him up and dried him, then back into the garden we went to see if he would fly.
He stood for about 5 minutes on my open hand while I talked softly to him and finally hopped off onto a dogwood shrub about a foot off the ground.
His mother was watching when I walked away she came down to see him so I hope he made it through the night. As long as mommy is feeding him things should be ok. (crossing fingers)
I love this series of 3 photos. Such a fragile little life in the safety of human hands
3 comments
Judybec wrote...
sweet photos.... hope he's okay!
Steve Hamilton wrote...
Good thing you found him when you did. Also happy to see you put him back. I used to work at a nature center when I was younger and we would take in orphaned and injured animals and so many times people would bring in fledgling birds thinking they were injured. Of course, as you know, this is not the case. They leave the nest before they can fly and the parents care for them. These guys have a much better chance to make it in the wild when the parents care for them vs. people. Hope this little guy has a long life ahead.
Steve
same here, keeping fingers crossed, keep us posted!