"Sweet Tweet"

I am always amazed by a child's capacity for LOVE and COMPASSION.  As parents, witnessing our child display these virtues is always a proud moment.  This week I witnessed so much love between my children; and being the mid-point of summer vacation when their patience with one another can be waning, it was a welcomed experience.

I was hoping Erin would be ready to write personally about her journey as a mother bird but she's a sensitive one.  Though it was a VERY hot day (33C), the early part of Monday morning saw us mowing the section of pasture around the barn.  While mowing, Erin noticed a little bird come hopping out from the long grass.

Even though the words "don't touch the baby bird; lets see if its mother is close by" were on my lips, the compassion for a frightened animal and the fear that she might have hurt it moved Erin quicker than my mouth could form the words.

She immediately cradled the little creature while I searched the long grass for any sign of a disturbed nest or a panicked mother bird.  None were found and so "sweet Tweets" made his way to the house with us and a bed was made up for him in a blue recycling bin.

This is the time where I had a heart to heart with my daughter.  Baby birds are SO hard... so hard to keep alive.  Mother birds are some of the busiest moms out there - flying back and forth from the baby to find food and deliver the nutrients.  An attempt to help this little one was going to be a big commitment.

I've never figured out exactly what the secret to fostering baby birds is.  Protein - mealworms and bugs; got those in abundance (these will also give the baby the hydration it requires - giving water even from a dropper can drown a baby bird).   Grit - small pebbles to sit in the crop of the bird to grind up their food; perfect, just happen to have some chicken grit at our disposal.   Dear Erin wrote down this information I gave her, collected some tweezers for feeding and set her watch to remind her every 45 minutes to feed her little ward.

Erin was a phenomenal foster bird mom.  She had her sister Sammy catch little green worms and flying beetles to feed 'sweet Tweet" and even asked her older sister Nicole to do a feeding while she helped me with an errand.

Monday night passed with little 'sweet Tweet" sleeping in his bin on a roost Erin had made and our tired little Erin got a good night's sleep... until the hungry chirping began with sunrise at 5:00am.  I should mention that this little guy turned out to be a chipping sparrow - one of the most vocal of American Sparrows.

"Sweet Tweet" ate less and less each feeding on Tuesday morning and became quieter and quieter.  I could see that he was going downhill and there wasn't anything that I could do about it except affirm to my daughter with the crocodile tears that there wasn't anything more or anything different that she could be doing for this little one.

Erin took the passing of the infant bird quite roughly... as I expected she might.  A couple of hours alone in her room passed before she was ready to hold a 'funeral'.  In this time, I witnessed compassion from my other little ladybugs.  The younger two made "I'm sorry" cards while Nicole plotted on how we might surprise Erin with a pet hamster.  Thankfully, Erin healed just fine without a hamster moving in (whew!)

Jeanette