I met a poor, sickly sparrow in my yard yesterday. He was just standing there in my path and made no attempt to move or fly away as I come close to stepping on him. I stopped and bent down to ask him what was the matter. His eyes were squinted and he still wouldn't move despite my close proximity. I continued to talk softly to him, trying to offer what comfort I could and touched him, gently stroking his feathers.
I probed around to see if there was an injury, just lightly brushing him with one finger tip. He seemed intact. He even moved a step or two but made no effort to escape. Occasionally, his little eyes would widen, as he took a closer look at me, but then go back to squinting, as if it took too much energy to keep them open. If I had to guess, I'd say he had a fever or a cold or whatever birds get. I went in the house and washed my hands.
Later in the day, I looked for him in that same spot but he had gone. I think I saw him out in the field when I was repositioning a sprinkler. If it wasn't him it was another bird in a similar state. He didn't try to fly away when he saw me approach him, but his movement was better. He was hopping just a little and he appeared not to be as completely paralyzed as the bird I saw previously. No moral here, I just wanted to record this for future reference. Maybe some kind of meaning will attach itself then. For now it's just a report.
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I've changed my comments settings to allow for anyone to comment. All comments are welcome, even spineless potshots from anonymous posters. Please, by all means, give me the tongue lashing I so richly deserve. I promise not to hunt you down and melt your keyboard with my plasma cannon. I won't, however, promise not to pout and make that face you can't stand.