Cher here!
I really love hanging out at Lakeview Park because it’s SO beautiful. Any chance I get to sit there, walk there, or be there, I’ll take it! So, this afternoon my mom and I went driving around looking at landscaping ideas and decided to get an iced coffee and sit at the park for half an hour or so.
I would say about ten minutes or less after we sat down with the pond in our view, I heard two teenage boys stop their bikes behind us to look under a giant pine tree at what had caught their eye. The older boy had taken a stick and walked to the trunk of the tree, and then I saw it.
A bird was shuffling and panicking and desperately trying to get away from where he was, but his wings were SO messed up. I decided to stay quiet and observe instead of investigating because I thought the bird would eventually fly away or run fast enough that they couldn’t catch it, but that didn’t happen. They kept trying to catch it with their hands. The one boy opened his backpack as if he was going to put the bird in there. They didn’t seem like they wanted to hurt him or anything, but they were also scaring the bird and causing more pain.
Finally, I said from about ten feet away, “I think you’re going to cause him more pain if you keep chasing him. Maybe he will just need to lay there and die.” The boy said back that he kinda just wanted to put him out of his misery. I could tell there was compassion there, but also helplessness. Then, the two boys rode off on their bikes.
Minutes later, the poor bird scuffled all the way to the path, taking one or two steps and falling flat on his face. He would lay there for a few seconds while he mustered up more energy to keep going. He got halfway across a four foot area and just layed on his face like a lifeless corpse. It was so hard to watch. More people would go by and his fear would get his wings to flap and shuffled forward an inch or two at a time.
I looked at the pond and tried to take my focus off the bird but I couldn’t. To see it work SO hard to keep going and keep falling, just made me feel responsible for his safety. He was now on the grass on the other side of the path, on his back and absolutely unable to flip over. I walked over slowly and noticed it’s colours. I walked back to where we were sitting and my mom said it sounds like it’s a woodpecker.
I felt so conflicted. I know it’s a small bird and birds die all the time in nature, but I couldn’t leave him like that. People would walk by and circle him and then walk or ride off. My mom suggested I could call the vet and ask what I could do. So I called Acadia Vet Service and the lady I spoke to was so friendly and caring about the situation. She explained how I should handle him and where I could take him. She even gave me their phone number and directions.
I hung up and called Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation while my mom got my sweater out of the truck for me to handle the bird with. When I got ahold of them, they were completely ready for us. So I scooped up the poor bird. He was strong in his legs and had a lot of life in his eyes so I felt optimistic for him. I walked to the truck and my mom got me buckled in since my hands were full, and we took off to Sutherland to get help for the bird.
About two blocks away from our destination, a slow train decided to make an appearance and stop a couple times which delayed our arrival time by twenty minutes. And that is not an exaggeration. It was PAINFUL because it was so humid, and I had this broken bird wrapped in a hot sweater. Sometimes his eye lids would start to drop because he was either too hot or too cozy, but if I shuffled at all he would kick his legs and wiggle a bit.
We finally made it there! We walked up to the door and they saw me through the screen and immediately welcomed me inside and reached for the bird. “AWE” the girl said as she took him from me and immediately took him to the back for care. Then, I filled out a form about his location and injury, followed by a case number they gave me so I can call tomorrow and see how he is doing.
They’re a totally non-profit organization that runs on donations. The workers are mostly volunteers and they will spend any amount of money it takes to rehabilitate the animal and release them back home. I thought that was absolutely wonderful. As I was writing down all the info, I could hear tons of birds they’re healing and preparing for going home. That was so nice. I am stoked to call tomorrow and see how he is doing!