Bird Rescue

Photo by Paul Winter

Princeton Landing News reader and birding enthusiast Paul Winter has reported a couple of close encounters with birds at his home this past month. His most recent was with the cardinal pictured above, which flew into one of the windows at the Winter residence. Paul writes:

"Yesterday I heard a 'thud' at one of my windows — not a good sign. Upon investigation I didn't see a bird, but I decided the thud was too loud to dismiss. Looking further I spotted a male cardinal on the ground. Fortunately, he was upright, but his wings were hanging down instead of being neatly tucked in. It was getting dark, and with all the cats in the area I didn't want to leave him. I picked him up and right away he perched on my finger. He seemed weak and a little dazed, so I put him on my deck table to recover.

"After about 15 minutes he still hadn't moved, and it was getting colder. I placed him in a little bowl with some seed, then slowly and carefully relocated him to the top of our grill, in a corner next to the house. I went off to gather items that might help keep him warm until morning. When I checked on him later, he jumped off the grill, then the deck, and ran into the bushes! We were very glad. It looked like he hadn't injured his wings after all because he used both of them to slow his fall. He hopped away briskly, still too weak to fly, but he looked like he was definitely coming around."