one morning, without warning or fanfare, the bird were gone. evidently had learned to fly. the family of birds must have gone in search of food.
later that fall. i found a robin with a damaged wing. I donned gloves and put the bird into a box. I took the lame bird to a neighbor. I had heard that she was an expert on birds My neighbor gently picked up the frightened robin. She said the wing was not badly damaged and would heal on its own. I should let the bird go. I knew there were several cats in my neighborhood, so I put the bird in my backyard. I kept my cat indoors.
I soon heard chirping in the backyard. other robins tended to the wounded bird. they brought if food. could this be the same family that had nested in my backyard in the spring? soon the injured bird recovered, and the family of birds disappeared. they were probably flying south for the winter.
the next spring, robins again nested in my backyard. that summer, I heard a continual swishing sound in my tree. I looked out and saw a robin flapping its wings. the bird had a piece of string was tangled in the bird captive. I put on gloves and carefully removed the string from its leg. the bird flew away.
this following summer I heard the familiar chirping of chicks. I saw a blue shell on the ground in my backyard. suddenly, several robins dove at me. they were chirping loudly. when i looked around the yard, I noticed that my cat was intently playing with some object. It was one of the baby robins!
this time I knew just what to do. I captured my cat and put him in the house. wearing my garden gloves, I picked up the chick to examine it. the other birds became quiet and stayed away. Did they remember me from the summers past? I had no way of knowing, but I wanted to help keep their chicks safe
For several years, I didn't see any robins in my backyard. I wondered what had happened to them. had they encountered danger on their journey south for the winter? Was the pollution of the city keeping them away?
this past spring, I again saw robins in my neighborhood. Then I found a piece of blue shell in my backyard. It was a telltale sign. the robins were back in my yard!