Post by chickadeedeedee on May 26, 2007 2:52:29 GMT 1
... but he did NOT stay for too long.
I've been busying myself and trying to catch up on work in the garden. After clearing the area that will be our veggie patch I went back to the patio to get the plants and hear an awful scream from inside the house! Did someone get out of the aviary and one of the cats caught him?
I went inside and saw that one of the cats, Mike (yes, yet another Mike) had someone dark coloured in his mouth.
I thought Kramer, our starling, was caught!
The cat went under the bed and I crawled under after him. He dropped the bird and I scooped up the poor little bird.
"Who the heck are you" I asked the sleek black bird? He's a very handsome Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica). I checked him over thoroughly and did not find even a scratch or a puncture wound on him. Nothing broken either! He has very tiny feet and was clinging to my finger and has very short legs. I released him in a flight area with some of our doves and he had no problem flying either!
I gave him a kiss on top of his head, apologized for making him so frightened and let him fly off to continue his business. I have no idea how he got in the house. We have two chimneys but there are glass door thingies in front of both fireplaces and no gap would allow him into the house. No broken windows, no ripped window screens, no holes in the roof. I dunno!
He was a very pleasant fellow. They breed in the Eastern half of the USA from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They spend all their daylight hours flying and catching insects. They don't even stop to drink water but swoop down and take a quick dip as they fly over a pond or stream. They winter in the upper Amazon basin!
Timing, as they say, IS everything. How lucky that I came back to the house in time to hear his distress. How nice of Mike the cat to be gentle with his catch. I do know that the swift made the rounds in the living room. There is a huge mess from the potted orchids and other plants that were knocked over. But soil and orchid mix can be vacuumed and everything straightened out. To mend a lovely swift would not have been so easy.
I was *~almost~* as stunned as the Swift to have such an encounter! Mike (the cat)(not to be confused with Mike the husband or mini-Mike, our youngest child) ((gotta sort out our Mikes here)) is very gentle. He used to live at an animal hospital and he was the self designated patient advocate. If there was a dog or cat seriously ill he would make it a point to stay near as though to reassure the patient! When I left that hospital in August 2002 I asked if I could take Mike and they happily gave him up!
This is the second time he has caught a bird in the house. A few years ago Shorty, the male Orange Weaver Finch, flew out of the aviary and headed right for Mike (the cat) and was caught in an instant. Again he released the bird without putting a mark on him! A very rare gentle kitty he is! Must have something to do with the name.
We have six cats and all are 100% indoor only! The Swift somehow entered the house and that is how he was caught... Like we *need* another bird, ehh? LOL!
So that's one of the things that happened on this end of the world.
I looked but don't have any photographs of a Chimney Swift.
I've been busying myself and trying to catch up on work in the garden. After clearing the area that will be our veggie patch I went back to the patio to get the plants and hear an awful scream from inside the house! Did someone get out of the aviary and one of the cats caught him?
I went inside and saw that one of the cats, Mike (yes, yet another Mike) had someone dark coloured in his mouth.
I thought Kramer, our starling, was caught! The cat went under the bed and I crawled under after him. He dropped the bird and I scooped up the poor little bird.
"Who the heck are you" I asked the sleek black bird? He's a very handsome Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica). I checked him over thoroughly and did not find even a scratch or a puncture wound on him. Nothing broken either! He has very tiny feet and was clinging to my finger and has very short legs. I released him in a flight area with some of our doves and he had no problem flying either!
I gave him a kiss on top of his head, apologized for making him so frightened and let him fly off to continue his business. I have no idea how he got in the house. We have two chimneys but there are glass door thingies in front of both fireplaces and no gap would allow him into the house. No broken windows, no ripped window screens, no holes in the roof. I dunno!
He was a very pleasant fellow. They breed in the Eastern half of the USA from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They spend all their daylight hours flying and catching insects. They don't even stop to drink water but swoop down and take a quick dip as they fly over a pond or stream. They winter in the upper Amazon basin!
Timing, as they say, IS everything. How lucky that I came back to the house in time to hear his distress. How nice of Mike the cat to be gentle with his catch. I do know that the swift made the rounds in the living room. There is a huge mess from the potted orchids and other plants that were knocked over. But soil and orchid mix can be vacuumed and everything straightened out. To mend a lovely swift would not have been so easy.
I was *~almost~* as stunned as the Swift to have such an encounter! Mike (the cat)(not to be confused with Mike the husband or mini-Mike, our youngest child) ((gotta sort out our Mikes here)) is very gentle. He used to live at an animal hospital and he was the self designated patient advocate. If there was a dog or cat seriously ill he would make it a point to stay near as though to reassure the patient! When I left that hospital in August 2002 I asked if I could take Mike and they happily gave him up!
This is the second time he has caught a bird in the house. A few years ago Shorty, the male Orange Weaver Finch, flew out of the aviary and headed right for Mike (the cat) and was caught in an instant. Again he released the bird without putting a mark on him! A very rare gentle kitty he is! Must have something to do with the name.
We have six cats and all are 100% indoor only! The Swift somehow entered the house and that is how he was caught... Like we *need* another bird, ehh? LOL!
So that's one of the things that happened on this end of the world.
I looked but don't have any photographs of a Chimney Swift.
Glad it all turned out well, C3D, Mike must have gentle jaws indeed. 
Mike the cat, that is. 
even though they are all getting on a bit, in years they are still quick enough to catch birds, rats etc. I dont think theres much I can do..... except not feed the birds. 