Bird Rescue

When we put a new roof on the lodge in 2004, we decided to modify our side porch. As a result, our screened porch on the front of the lodge was impacted. It is no longer totally screened-in, something we intend to remedy. But like so many other projects, we just haven't gotten there yet. We've found that we love the side porch so much, for sitting and drinking our coffee, that we don't even mind being bothered by the bugs.

This situation, however, has presented an occasional challenge for birds. Our bird feeder hangs off of a rafter on the side porch. Once in a while, a bird will fly in the wrong direction when exiting the feeder, and will end up on the screen porch, in the portion of it that still has screen. Most of them can manage to find their way out. Sometimes, though, we will see a bird that is having some struggles getting itself oriented to find the exit. In that case, we will go out to assist.

When I go on the porch to help a bird, I will use my arms to direct it out. Greg prefers to help the birds even more. If needed, he will gently pick up the little ones and carry them to the side porch to release them. I think that he has carried numerous chickadees, nuthatches, and white-throated sparrows, and when he is really lucky, he'll get to help a hummingbird. He has actually held a few hummingbirds very carefully in his hands. One memorable little guy even cheeped a little thank you to Greg, as he perched for a moment longer on his hand before taking off. It was a very sweet moment.

Last week, Greg had his largest rescue ever. Although they don't visit our feeder, we do see roughed grouse, also known as partridge, eating in the birch tree on the other side of the screened porch.


Somehow, one of these larger birds got turned around and found itself stuck inside the porch. It was really having a tough time finding the exit, so Greg came to the rescue.




I like to think that this action made the bird feel better, sort of make up for the embarrassment of getting stuck in the first place. It made for a good chuckle for us.