Saving Thrushes

 I love Varied Thrushes. Beautiful. Gentle. Sweet. Today, I heard one scream. Up until today I had listened to them singing to each other . Little songs. Choruses. Melodic. Today I heard one scream in terror. One thought: Cat.

 Placid and gentle, they just totter around from twig to fence to ground. Searching out food. They come down from the mountains in winter, and eat seeds to supplement their diet.

 Today, Smokey, in early morning, decided to catch one. Even he was surprised by the screams. Sounded like a child . More child than bird. Poor cat was only doing what he does naturally.....

 I ended up capturing the wounded Thrush with a shovel. And some snow along with it.Not knowing what to do at first, I dumped it into a garbage bag just to get it away from Smokey.  In the bag, it calmed down. But then I was left with a goodly sized bird. And it couldn't stay in the plastic bag.

 Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society, based out of Merville , told me that the Campbell River Vet Hospital was a drop off point for injured birds. The Rescue Society gave us instructions as to what to do. Morgan and I transferred the Thrush into a paper garden bag, with a towel for it to cling to. The Vet was open. They took the bird from us. Quite happy that it had been rescued. I was told that birds need to have antibiotics if they have been mauled by cats, or they will die.

 Vet determined that the bird was able to be saved. Mountainaire Rescue  ( out of their Courtenay office)  picked up the Thrush. All that, for one bird. Mountainaire Rescue for this part of Vancouver Island can be reached at 250-337-2021.It's motto is "To conserve, protect and rehabilitate native wildlife."

 Was worth the little bit of effort to save just one Thrush. When we wrapped it in a towel to put into the bag, we held it for a moment. It wasn't screaming anymore. Was just quiet. Had a chance to see this lovely bird up close. My wonderful friends that live in our back yard right now. When winter goes, they will vanish back up into the mountains.  Long long bill, bright colouring,long feet, chubby body. Beautiful , beautiful bird. And he's going to live. That just made my day.....