Next-door have a cat, a great advantage in the discouragement of rats.
But here on the ground is a fledgling; feathered, with wobbly flight skills, a wagtail chick.
This should not be cat food.
Dog pays it scant attention, until I pick it up. Then she gives a look that announces both her acceptance of the situation and her opinion that I am a traitor.
The fledgling sits in my hand. It too looks at me. Tiny mites climb all over it. They dot my hands. I get some dust and a box to bath my new friend. It remains unstartled.
There’s no further sight of Next-door Cat so the fledgling is allowed back to play around the flowerpots. Parent birds are watching. I am watching. It hops out to watch me.
The urge to name it is strong.
Next I find a bee afloat in a tub, and pick that up. It revives, and walks up and down my arm and will not leave until it has rubbed its legs and buzzed its wings back to health. I sit in the polytunnel, Dog lies out in the shade.
The bee walks, it tickles.
It feels like it is licking my hot arm. Do bees lick people?
Later Dog has her owner back - we run to the river and swim. We jog back. I hope the little bird is okay. The bee I know is busy in the flowering parsley.
Across the lawn a fledgling hops. Parent birds in tow.
What did I do today?
Amongst the usual work, I gave a bath to a baby bird and was licked by a bee. I swam in the thick of the rain-stirred river while the sun dried my washing.
But here on the ground is a fledgling; feathered, with wobbly flight skills, a wagtail chick.
This should not be cat food.
Dog pays it scant attention, until I pick it up. Then she gives a look that announces both her acceptance of the situation and her opinion that I am a traitor.
The fledgling sits in my hand. It too looks at me. Tiny mites climb all over it. They dot my hands. I get some dust and a box to bath my new friend. It remains unstartled.
There’s no further sight of Next-door Cat so the fledgling is allowed back to play around the flowerpots. Parent birds are watching. I am watching. It hops out to watch me.
The urge to name it is strong.
Next I find a bee afloat in a tub, and pick that up. It revives, and walks up and down my arm and will not leave until it has rubbed its legs and buzzed its wings back to health. I sit in the polytunnel, Dog lies out in the shade.
The bee walks, it tickles.
It feels like it is licking my hot arm. Do bees lick people?
Later Dog has her owner back - we run to the river and swim. We jog back. I hope the little bird is okay. The bee I know is busy in the flowering parsley.
Across the lawn a fledgling hops. Parent birds in tow.
What did I do today?
Amongst the usual work, I gave a bath to a baby bird and was licked by a bee. I swam in the thick of the rain-stirred river while the sun dried my washing.
And, in the oven, homemade pizza, nearly baked.
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