Dead Birds....I'm scared!

It all started with Sean's story about shaking a baby bird out of a tree. I don't know if it was true or not...either way, I actually enjoyed reading it...yes a bit disturbing...but most interesting stories are. I especially liked the image of Sean in his bedroom with a Munch'ish look on his face, "The sound had to penetrate four walls and two trembling hands before it hit my ear drums." Aaarrggh!

Well, I guess since I enjoyed the dead bird story, the heavens have decided to show me just how disturbing dead birds can be....

About six weeks ago...I came home from work and Robert was talking to our neighbor in front of our mailboxes, so I joined in. As we were standing there talking I noticed a dove flopping all over the place near the curb on the other side of the street. After our neighbor left I pointed it out to Robert and we both agreed about how sad it was. It probably got hit by a car or (shaken out of a tree) and broke its wing or neck or something. It was sad. We were sad. We went on our way...

The next afternoon, I was walking my doggie when we passed the dove on the side of the curb. I could see from a distance it had flies and ants and bugs and yucky stuff on it wing where it was injured. As I approached, the bird blinked. It was alive!!!! I was mortified! It was being eaten alive! I told Robert and he said we (he!) should kill it to put it out of its misery. But with what?!? His solution was a rock. I have a very very bad memory of trying to put a tadpole/frog out of its misery when I was 12 and I wanted no part of the bird killing. I told him he could do it without telling me... but he never really had the guts to do it. I figured that stuff like this happens all the time out in nature, where we don't usually see it, so I just had to let this disturbing situation follow its natural course. Sigh.

Then a week later or so, I was taking an afternoon walk with a co-worker, when we happened upon a dove who looked like his head was just kind of stuck in the ground. He wasnt moving or flapping or in any kind of distress. I kind of peered at him from afar and just couldnt see where his head was...was he decapitated? Broke his neck and was lying at a wierd angle? Dove head first from a tree and got his head plunged into a hole in the ground? I'll never know, although I tend to lean towards the third scenario. Again, a very disturbing sight that I really couldnt do anything about...so I stuck my own head in the proverbial sand, er dirt, and finished my walk.

So a few weeks go by and my co-worker tells me about a neat yellow bird she's seen flying around the Capitol. Shes an avid bird-watcher and we looked the bird up online and then once during our afternoon walk we saw some of these yellow birds in a tree and spent some time admiring them. Then one day we are walking...and I happen to glance down and a bit of yellow bird feathers catch my eye. I back up to take a closer look. Im all excited because of the yellow birds we've seen recently. Well, this little tuft of yellow bird feathers had a little birdy leg and foot attached to it. A bird leg, just laying there on the sidewalk! The horror!!! I freak out about all the recent disturbing bird stuff and she comforts me a little by saying, "Its spring...more birds are out and about....this stuff happens all the time..." OK, OK....

Well, throughout all of this, a dove had been building a nest in a branch right outside our front door. I took pictures of the dove in her nest and was really looking forward to seeing her babies (despite Sean's story). Then one night we had a bad storm with very strong winds and rain. The next morning, stepped out the door to get something out of my car and the nest was decimated. It had gotten blown to bits and mama was nowhere to be seen. I peered over the balcony looking for pieces of eggs, but I saw nothing. I was so sad and disappointed. Walking back up the stairs from my car, I almost stepped on this little black, slimy, froggy looking glob on the stairs. The glob turned out to be Baby Bird. It was dead. I was sad, very, very sad. (And kind of grossed out too...what if I had stepped on it? Yipes!)

THEN...THEN....no, it doesnt end there...THIS IS THE KICKER....I am walking the dog along my street just a couple of weeks ago....and I see laying in the grass....a BIRD LEG WITH YELLOW FEATHERS....A BIRD LEG WITH YELLOW FEATHERS....the exact same type of little bitty leg I saw just a few weeks before across town!!!!.

THEY ARE AFTER ME I TELL YOU!!! I AM SORRY FOR ENJOYING SEAN'S STORY...IT WAS HORRIBLE, ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! THERE IS NOTHING ENTERTAINING ABOUT DEAD BIRDS!!! AT ALL! I AM SERIOUS!!! Dead birds make me sad.