I went by the Sebago Canoe Club Monday morning to mow grass. The club grounds were serene and quiet. As I was getting ready to open the garden shed to bring out the mower I saw this bird (photo right) perched on the rope of a boat holder. A young robin perhaps?Even as I was opening the shed and bringing out the mower this feathered friend did not move. At first I thought it might be a precariously balanced decoy, a finely crafted replica meant to deceive. As I approached closer, however, I could see its chest rising and falling as it breathed. There was no eye movement. No feathers were ruffled. Just the chest rising and falling. This bird remained perched stone cold on the rope of the boat holder even as I approached as close as two feet.
If my memory serves me right, the only other wild birds I have approached closer to were injured and not able to fly.
For a few minutes in the midst of an otherwise busy Monday I was transfixed by this extraordinary encounter.
1 comment:
Hm, a baby robin I saw in Michigan did the same thing. Had fallen out of the nest & was perched on the handle of an old hoe in my aunt & uncles garden - just didn't move while I took pictures. I wonder if it's just their instinct to hold still - they probably can't really fly yet, so better to just sit quietly & hope for the best instead of fluttering away, which would for sure just draw attention & start a chase.
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