You'll know what I mean if you've been swooped on by protective parent birds - its alarming! Particularly so when they are large birds, in a gang! Actually it was more the surprise of it, a sudden muddle and clatter of wings, accompanied by loud and frenzied keowing from half a dozen Jackdaws. I heard air through feathers and felt the urgency of their alarm calls. They circled and flew repeatedly past me and away up to the trees.
I soon found the reason - right at my feet, I might have stepped on it, a young Jackdaw, presumably having just taken its first flight, and found itself rather heavily plopped to earth. It just sat there, blinking at me. I wondered if it was injured - but it did move and hop about and all seemed okay.
You don't often get to see these birds so close, and they can certainly charm with those beautiful blue eyes, so it was a bit of a battle - knowing I should come away and leave them alone, and really wanting to stay close and watch.
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ah what a handsome young bird he his! fingers crossed he got off the ground again and will be wheeling around the skies soon
ReplyDeleteHow fantastic, you are lucky! Except for the harrassment from the parents. Great photos! Beautiful bird.
ReplyDeleteit amazes me that any baby bird survives to maturity, the amount of time they spend helpless on the ground. I followed the wrens around this spring while they raised baby. at first they were always very alarmed at me getting close to baby but after a while, they got used to me.
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