Tag: pigeon

August 25th – A good deed for the day. Heading out, I noticed for the second time this year, a pwood pigeon downed in the canal near Ogley Hay. 

I was unaware wood pigeons couldn’t swim until I found one in the canal near Oldbury in the summer – they float, but just drift and will clearly drown before long. I rescued that one, but it was difficult as I had nothing to get it close enough to grab from the water. In response to that I now carry a length of thin rope which I held both ends of and tossed the loop over and beyond the stuck bird.

Gently pulling it to the bank, I took the pigeon from the water, and popped him under the hedge to dry out, poor thing.

Funny how I’ve never seen this before and find two within a few months.

June 10th – Good deed for the day, though I don’t know if it did any good.

Slipping through Oldbury, something grey moving in the water caught the eye, and stopping to investigate I found that it was a sodden, floating and stricken wood pigeon that had somehow fallen in the water, and couldn’t get out. Although floating on it’s outstretched wings, it looked tired and frightened and was clearly going to die if it couldn’t get out.

Forty minutes later, using a spare inner tube as a gentle lasso, I finally got the struggling, terrified bird onto the towpath. It was saturated, and exhausted.

I placed him carefully in a patch of sun to dry out in the undergrowth. A couple of boaters nearby said they’d keep an eye on it.

I think it probably died: It was so wet, so shocked, so tired. But I couldn’t leave it to drown without trying. Hopefully, foxy didn’t find lunch, the sun was enough to dry him and the grass around provided enough nutrition to get him to safety.

Hopefully. Call me a fool, but I couldn’t leave it there.

April 4th – An odd day – heavy showers in the morning interspersed with bright, warm sunny periods, and a nightmare, torrential-rain soaked ride home. At lunchtime on an errand from work into Walsall, I have no idea what the pigeon was thinking, but it seemed happy. Walsall dripped, sparkled and glistened, and the swans at Bentley Bridge didn’t seem bothered. 

The homeward trip was fun, but very wet. Flash floods hit the main roads and drains blew their covers. It was warm though, so not too bad.

I guess this are April showers, then…

October 9th – I was in Birmingham for an evening meeting. It was dark and beautiful on my return. Cathedral Square and a very quiet station made for some interesting night shots – remarkably, without a tripod. Really pleased with the night performance of this little camera, so much better than previous models. 

The oncoming darkness doesn’t seem so bad this year yet. I’m sort of warming to it…