There was frantic splashing on the shore of the lake. We thought it was a fish. Maybe the crows had found a dead one. When we looked, we were surprised to find wet flapping wings. This chubby little baby bird was trying to survive a fall from the nest.

We rushed down to the edge and gently lifted him out and placed him on the lawn to dry. He was very appreciative and clingy. My dog Norma was very interested. She is also delightfully gentle and seemed more concerned that the little bird live instead of chomping him to bits. We stepped away from the lawn to let the little thing dry off and then hopefully fly away. It froze there. He was a scared little bird. Then out of nowhere a crow swooped down to grab him. I leapt to the lawn so fast that I scared the birdseed out of that crow. I became very protective of my little foster bird. I picked him up and held him. He shook and shivered. Then he relaxed and sat on my finger. I blew on his wings and he loved it. I tried to get him to sit on the bird feeder but he clung to me. Then he started opening his mouth baby bird style to be fed. Melt my heart why dontcha bird! So I sat with him while I looked for his nest or his mama. Nothing.

Finally he was dry and stretched his little wings. I was able to get him to sit on top of a tree stump so I could back away and give his mom a chance to find him while I watched for crows. He sat there staring at me. I was about ready to adopt him when his mom appeared on the grass hopping around the stump. She chirped at him and he chirped back. She hopped away, then came back and then hopped away again. It looked like she wanted him to follow her. And he did! He was wobbly at first and only flew a few feet before falling to the ground again. But he kept trying.

He flew up to sit on my hammock and stared at me. He sat there for a long time as his mom urged him to follow her. Then he finally took off. There went my little foster bird. I about had a heart attack when I heard splashing in the water later. But it was only a crow who had found a dead fish.