An Injured But Resilient Pigeon

SAINT FRANCIS IS FEATURED IN MANY OF MY BLOG POSTS

I need Saint Francis's (whose image is imprinted on a copy of a prayer card which is posted atop this entry) intercession on a situation with a pigeon who visited my garden this past weekend. He is known to be the patron saint of animals (especially birds, which is something I referenced in a recent FB post).

In any event, this past Saturday (10-10-2020) in the early evening, I noticed a pigeon in my outdoor space who did not seem to be doing very well. I had hoped to "capture" him in order to transport the creature to The Wild Bird Fund  (WBF) but since they were closed for the evening, my next best option was to "capture" him and make him comfortable for the night so I could take him to The WBF the next morning (which would be Sunday, 10-11-2020).

Years ago I learned about transporting injured or sick birds to The WBF so I knew this could be done but I was a little unsure of how I might keep this unfortunate pigeon comfortable over night so I phoned the Brooklyn based pigeon advocate (and artist extraordinaire), Tina Pina AKA Mother Pigeon (who graciously called me back with helpful tips) to seek her advice as I could not reach bird rehabber Amanda Remsberg  (AR) whom I usually contact when I have questions re birds in need.

But it turned dark outside very quickly and so it was impossible to see anything but I prepared my rescue and transport supplies to ensure I'd be ready for Sunday's mission.

I did not see my visitor in the morning but he was there in the afternoon and I was able to determine he could fly but was injured. Plus I could hear a thumping sound when he limped across my terrace.

However, in spite of my past successes with swooping up a bird in order to take him/her to The WBF, I could not grab this guy, but I could take pictures of him (seen in the next sequence of photos)...

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

... and contact AR about this for a form of "tele-med" (via Facebook Messenger). The following is a copy of our correspondence that was based on the images posted above.

ME: Here is what my limping visitor looks like. I thought from the face he/she is a youngster BUT from what you said about the feet, I may be way off. I'm not confident I'll be able to "grab" te bird in order to transport him/her /to the WBF, but I can hear "thumping" (from a limp) when the bird moves  about. Thanks again for your time.

AR: Yea, he does look young with that knobby pale beak.  Such pretty colors.  I hope he will be ok.  The placement of his feet doesn’t look like a broken leg, maybe just soft tissue damage.  Tis a hard life for a pigeon in the city. 💕

ME: He's out there right now and I guess I should just let him alone because I can't capture him and he may be safer here?

AR: Hopefully.

ME: Hopefully indeed. It's hard to her him thumping about and not be able to provide relief.

UPSHOT: It is now Monday(10-12-2020) and a cold rain is falling heavily but I am keeping my eye out for the pigeon and ready to continue to take action in order to transport him to The WBF. I truly care about this pigeon's well being. 

As some of you may know, pigeons are featured within my three volume hardcover book series, Words In Our Beak which are available wherever book are sold get your copies now and please stay tuned for updates on the pigeon featured in today's post.

MY BOOK SERIES

One Pigeon's Plight

The pigeon pictured at the top of this blog entry is being held by a bird rehabber at The Wild Bird Fund (WBF) in NYC. She was evaluating the pigeons physical state. I had brought the pigeon The WBF (yesterday) after I noticed that he had an accident in my urban rooftop garden.

The Half Year Eve

Today, June thirtieth in the year 2017, marks the end of the half-year for 2017. Therefore, I call it The Half Year Eve. Tomorrow, will be July first in the year 2017, and, I see it as an opportunity to assess what I hope to accomplish in this calendar year.

However, at this moment, my duties are dedicated to helping an injured pigeon that I discovered in my rooftop garden last night.

At the time, I wasn't able to assess his injuries, as it was too dark. Additionally, he kept trying to hide behind my large planters.

Therefore, I was unable to lure him into a container in order to transport him to The Wild Bird Fund (WBF) because it was too dark. Moreover, at that hour of the night, The WBF is not open.

However, I was able to reach Tina Pina (AKA Mother Pigeon), by phone, and she advised me as to what to do if I saw the creature this morning.

When I went into my garden this morning, I was relieved to spot him, and to know that he had made it through the night. But I could tell the pigeon was not feeling well, and I literally gave him the shirt off my back; for I took the shirt I was wearing as a jacket off, and wrapped it around him so that I could pick him up, and put him in an over-sized brownbag (as seen in the photographs atop this entry), in order to be able to take him to The WBF when they open today.

Upon placing him in the bag, and adding a container of water and some food, I discovered that he had gotten his foot or wing caught in some wire contraption. I don't know how he managed that, as I have nothing like that around, but there he was caught in a wire.

I attempted to free him from this, but I stopped as I was afraid I might cause more damage to this sweet pigeon, who had gotten himself into quite a fix!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get him to The WBF, and, hopefully they will be able to free him from the wire contraption, as well as treat any injuries which might have resulted.

He is vacillates between being subdued and feisty, as I write this blog posting. But, I'm confident that if he survives the situation, his half year resolution will be to stay away from wire contraptions.

"Mother's Day is for the birds."

I have often said, "Mother's Day is for the birds," so I was delighted to see today's Mutts comic strip (a copy is posted atop this entry) in my In Box. I just love Patrick McDonnell's drawings of birds, but that art medium is a talent I do not possess. Thankfully I can take photographs of them and the ones posted below are ones I've featured within this blog before, however because they are images of mother birds with their offspring, I am including them within this post in honor of today's holiday which is Mother's Day.

It's on the bag!

The design for my pigeon-themed week-ender bag (featured in the image directly above and produced by Fine Art America) was inspired by Mother Pigeon. 

Moreover, this bird type as well as a copy his particular photograph is featured in my latest book, BIRD TALES.

Pigeons, and sparrows, and, starlings! OH MY!

The other week, on Wednesday, August 16th 2017, I went to a wake which was held at the Papavero Funeral Home in Queens. The solemn event was in honor of the beloved Angela Mussa, who is the woman in the undated photograph atop this entry. I never met this lovely woman, who died at age ninety-three in her daughter's (Dr. Carla Mussa DDS) arms, however, I had met her daughter on a few occasions at parties that were held by our mutual friend, TT.

When TT told me Carla's mother had died, and that she was planning on attending the wake, I offered to accompany her to support Carla. I knew Carla was an only child, and that any extended family lived in Italy, therefore, I thought attendance might be sparse.

In any event, at the wake a slide show featuring photographs from various stages of Angela Mussa's life was playing, and the picture featured here is one of the images which was included.

Grainy as the image is, if you knew Angela Mussa was born and raised in Italy, you might be able to tell that it was taken in Italy, and that she is feeding pigeons. 

An UPDATE: Tweeting and Reflecting (Details on The New Direction for TLLG on Blogger)

Tweet! Tweet! (View One)
I also posted this image on WBU-MICH FB Page

Tweet! Tweet! (View Two)
I also posted this image on TLLG'S FB Page

It has been over a month since I posted here on Blogger, and I'd like to use today's entry as an opportunity to state what my intentions are for this blog in the days to come, for I feel I have gotten away from my original hope re this endeavor, an endeavor I began on the last day of 2009, when I set up this blog, stating:

"Now that I've gotten the setting up of my blog underway (and making my New Year's resolution to stick with a posting schedule, it seems I may be passée. I understand many people have moved on to Tweeting. It is my life story summed up in ten words: at the airport when the ship comes into the dock. Being a reflective soul, I'll probably stick to blogging over tweeting. Besides, as it is, while some of my posts will be snippets and captions, others may border on mini essays. My temperament reminds me of Herb Gardener, whom I happened to meet while working at a theater (but that is as 'they' say, another story), and he told me that before becoming a playwright, he was a cartoonist and when the 'bubbles of dialogue got bigger than the cartoon-characters, it was time to be a playwright.' Similarly, as opposed to tweeting, blogs let you generate more in-depth content. I see them having greater resilience in terms of perception. But they require what many people seem to consider long-term commitment today:setting aside 20-90 minutes daily, weekly or semi-weekly. Still some bloggers are providing insightful or informative blogs which I hope to do also. I am in it for the long haul, and perhaps the Charles Schultz cartoon posted below sums it up:"

Now, today, March 6, 2014, as I look back on my initial (December 2009) intent for this blog, which was at a time I knew very little about social media, I realize that in some ways, I've succumbed to the "pressure" of tweeting, albeit through my Facebook (FB) and Pinterest postings being automatically tweeted (it's rare that I compose a direct tweet from twitter), and I've neglected what is near, as well as dear, to my soul: generating more in-depth content.