Monday, September 15, 2008

Bird Statue

I was grappling with the coffee pot this morning, distracted by how many different ways you can get French children to say hello and good morning, when there was a thud on the window which made me shout aloud in surprise.



Outside on the ground was an even more surprised bird...





It stood like a statue with its beak wide open for five minutes, and I think it would be there still had not Mysweet picked it up and put it in the greenhouse with the door open at the top. The plastic of the walls is sufficiently grubby to be visible, fortunately! I have just been to check and it has flown...or Kitty has taken it to a private lair...


I think it is a song thrush, but let me know if I am wrong. Lucy will probably be able to tell me genus and species name, where its nest is, what it had for dinner last night, and its shoe size, because I have noticed on our walks together that she is something of a tweeter and general natural history mine of information.


Unlike last time this happened, I did not let Porridge try to woo it while its defences were down.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooof. This happens at our house surprisingly often. Sometimes it happens while we're home, sometimes not. I imagine our kitties aren't going to pass up the opportunity a stunned bird presents, though, so I suspect that most of them don't survive the experience.

Mike said...

That happens here a lot. Unfortunately for the birds, there are usually a few feral cats hiding in the weeds that my wife calls flowers surrounding our house.

I sure hope she doesn't come here and see that "weed" comment or I will surely be fed to the feral cats hiding in the wee....flowers.

Mike said...

That happens here a lot. Unfortunately for the birds, there are usually a few feral cats hiding in the weeds that my wife calls flowers surrounding our house.

I sure hope she doesn't come here and see that "weed" comment or I will surely be fed to the feral cats hiding in the wee....flowers.

Mike said...

Apparently it happens so often that I had to post it twice.

Rosie said...

here was me thinking I had a special incident to report...
Mrs Chili, do your cats not present you with the evidence?
Kitty leaves us little kidneys and the like as presents just outside the door, so we can tread in them before we notice.
Mike, I am honoured, it is not often you leave me three comments on one post. I will try not to mention your weed comment when I am drinking white wine with your wife and discussing the merits of george clooney.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I think it's either a song or mistle thrush. Both are delightful so your lucky to have them in your garden being avid snail eaters.
Good luck with your students, I've got my second violin student starting on Wednesday, but another bilingual child so I'm full of admiration for you doing it in French.

Anonymous said...

What a pretty little bird! I'm sure Porridge was disappointed that he didn't get to sing it his song of love.

meggie said...

It looked like a Thrush to me.
I loved the story about Porridge! What a gentle lovely dog she is.
Friends had a Parrot, they used to let out of the cage, to roam their house. They had adopted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Yes you guessed it.
She took the bird outside to her 'mother' & dropped it at her feet... quite dead, probably from fright.

hexe said...

While visiting my mother's house this summer, we discovered a bird that came everyday to peck at her window. For at least thirty minutes everyday, the bird would stand there repeatedly pecking at the window, even when the kids were on the otherside screaming at it. It appears the poor thing needed a playmate and was desperate.

Hope your little birdy made it out safely.

Omykiss said...

Your windows must be super clean ... and a danger to wildlife! That's why I don't clean mine very often ;)

French Fancy... said...

Hello from another Londoner in Brittany. I like your blog.

Anonymous said...

It is so sad when they do that, especially when they leave blood on the window. Oooh makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Rosie said...

gabrielle good luck with your violinist
dingo yes she likes birds
Meggie Porridge isnt very good at picking up birds in her mouth although it is supposed to be her job...she doesnt like the feathers in her mouth!
Hexe she did get away
omykiss good excuse I will remember it..
Hi french fancy I'll be round to give you the once over when I get a moment!
Hello tarte...this one was a clean bounce!

Lucy said...

I think it's a mistle thrush because of pinker legs and bigger blacker-and-whiter spots... could be wrong though. They often are a bit too traumatised by the collision to survive, even if they fly off, but it was up on its feet so it may have been OK.

Birding anoraks rock.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for writing this.