Bird Banter in the Morning
I’ve always been intrigued by the bird world and the ability to fly. I used to dream of just leaping off the second floor porch of the Big House in Southeast Missouri and soaring high above the tree tops. My name, Vogel, translates to bird in German and it’s no surprise to me that I love having birds surround my house at this age. My backyard has a couple of hot tubs and the ravine behind them brings the treetops right up to my level when I’m sitting in the water during the early morning hours. The branches and limbs are a speedway for the squirrels and singing perches for all manner of winged creatures. The flyway up from Puget Sound brings herons, gulls, geese, crows, robins, chickadees, humming birds and occasionally a Cooper’s Hawk hangs out just 10 feet away at my eye level for a real treat.
My work with taking birds out into the Houston School System was energized and pretty noisy. The birds were good for a certain period of time around the kids and then you could just tell that they were going to act up and possibly bite some youngster, so my Junior League helpers would whisk them away for a time out. The trips out and back in the van always had a full orchestra of bird songs and squawky cockatoo craziness trying to drown out everything within earshot.
One of my girlfriends back a number of years was heavily into raptor rescue and loved the unique language that birds have amongst themselves. She opened my eyes to a whole new world of avian wonders. We spent quite a bit of time in Eastern Washington watching the Peregrin falcons in their magnificent dives and the Osprey in Walla Walla fish in the rivers. A bonus was a nest of baby owls at eye level viewed easily from the road shoulder. She had a wonderful blue and gold Macaw and a tiny parakeet. I’ll advise anyone that is considering having a large bird (and cage) in the house that it’s a lot of work keeping up with them. Think twice about whether that is a job you want to take on. If you want peace and quiet, a bird is not where I would start with a pet.
Recently I was reminded of the bird rescue world when a neighborhood friend related this tale to me. She works for the Longshoreman’s Union on Seattle’s harbor and managed to help this feathered soul to a better place. Her story below:
(you can enlarge the pictures by clicking them and then clicking again for even larger)
Barn Owl at Work
A freaking awesome and powerful experience!
Found a barn owl trapped in the center break room at Terminal 18 the other morning.
It was flying back and forth, into the windows on either side, trying to escape…for who knows how long, possibly days.
I managed to capture him and wrap him up in my hoodie, he wrestled a little bit, but was pretty tired. His dry tongue was hanging out to the side and he wasn’t closing his beak from dehydration.
Managed to dip his mouth into some water and held him, didn’t take long until his body relaxed and he fell asleep with exhaustion.
Held him until the superintendents brought a box and made me give it up, someone came and took him to PAWS
Such sweet pictures. Thanks, Chelsea, for sharing your story~!
I've Led a Charmed Life 
I have nest of Ospreys next door to the house here in Florida. For years, according to neighbors, these birds have nested in a dead pine tree. This winter a lighting bolt hit the tree and the top is damaged where the nest is usually built or I should say rebuilt each year. I am wondering if the birds will find a new nest in the tree or not…it is about time for them to start, so I will let you know. These guys fly like the wind and are great fisherman. Their spring mating dances in the sky are great to watch too. We see lots of high flying, diving and loops during this time. I guess the next couple of days I will checking out the sky for these high flyers.
Terry: You continually bring great energy to these tales and writing bits. How nice to hear of the Florida connection. If you have the ability to shoot with a long lense… would be great to see. If not, always great to hear your perspective.
I didn’t know that your last name meant “bird” in German!! How cool!
Nice hearing more of your stories plus your friend’s story in this one!
Heather…I thought I was going to write about snakes or baby elephants this time, until I saw the pictures of Chelsea and the owl. Once I thought of all my bird meditations out in back of the house, it flowed easily. Thanks for following!
Thank you, Heather!
thank you!