Goldie Lookin Pained

All Right.  I know.  I only wrote this story, so that I could use this headline.  Stick with me though, because there is a story attached; namely that on the way home from the river yesterday afternoon, I came across a goldfinch sitting in the middle of the road.  He didn't move as I approached him and only half-heartedly flapped about when I bent to pick him up.  Supposing that he must have come second in a head-on encounter with a passing vehicle, I ushered him to the side of the road, simultaneously directing traffic around us both; but, it was apparent that this was a goldfinch that wasn't going to take to the skies again in a hurry and would be vulnerable to predation.  That is provided he didn't stagger back into the path of the local traffic first.

Now, my recent record with rescuing small birds is pretty inauspicious, to say the least.  It stands at Grim Reaper 3 The Outside Loo 0.  So, the odds didn't look great for this poor chap.  No matter, I threw my hat over him, gently stuffed him into my pocket and cycled the 5 miles or so home.  He must have grown very attached to that hat, because I couldn't part him from it when I eventually closed the door on his new, temporary home - rather ironically the basket used to transport the cat to the vet.

All evening our hapless goldfinch slept his headache off in his knitted bed, paying no heed to the water and niger seed I had thoughtfully sourced for him.  Just before I retired to my own bed, though, I checked him again.  Encouragingly, he was standing up, was all fluffed up as, I believe, most healthy birds are when they are roosting, with a healthy-looking amount of droppings adorning my favourite beanie.

Which brings us to today.  An early morning inspection confirmed that he was more than ready to take his chance in the outside world again.  So, we made the trip back to the spot at which I had first discovered him, albeit with the cage covered in a thick blanket so that he wouldn't flap about and distress himself.  This is where I took the rather unimpressive photograph at the top of this entry, of our patient leaving his sick bay. (In my defence, it was difficult to choreograph the removal of the blanket, the opening of the basket door and standing back out of the way, while endeavouring to capture the whole process on film).

Still, I'm happier with the headline.