The Bird That Thought It Was a Hedgehog.

So should I tell today’s story of the stricken bird? I don’t think so. It was one of those situations which seem terribly meaningful and interesting at the time, but when you go into detail you imagine that the reception would be nothing more than yawns and eye rolls. So I’ll just tell the beginning and the end.

I was going out for my daily walk this morning when I spotted what appeared to be a ball, about the size of a tennis ball, stuck to the side of the birds’ peanut feeder. Closer examination showed it to be a small bird gripping the holes in the feeder, but without any visible head or wings. It really had managed to tuck everything away so that it looked – quite literally – like a ball, brown on one side and buff on the other. Clearly it had learned the skill by watching hedgehogs, and that, in my experience, is very unusual.

That’s the start of the story. Now for the end.

An hour and a half later I saw it shoot away from the feeder and fly straight and fast to the big sycamore tree on the opposite side of the lane. I cheered silently.

(The interim, for what it’s worth, consisted of me cradling the little creature between my hands to bestow warmth, stroking it gently, and speaking words of encouragement in a quiet and gentle manner. It didn’t seem to mind.)

So that’s about it. Maybe I earned some positive karma or maybe I didn’t. Who can tell? Oh, and it was a nuthatch if anybody’s still reading.