Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Great Budgie Saga

Yesterday I took Wendy to play in the park/gardens behind my house. I was surprised to spot a yellow and green Budgie walking on the grass. As I was sure that if he was just left there, he would fall prey to one of the many cats who roam in the gardens or to some other hazard, I thought I should catch him and try to find his owner.

I always carry a clear plastic water bowl in the rear basket of my scooter for the dog, so I used that to trap the little bird, and once he was safely in there, I covered the top of the bowl with my waxed rain hat. Then Wendy and I went and knocked on a few doors to try to find the owner, but we were unsuccessful, so we took the little thing to the Police Station. They seemed a bit dubious until I held the container up high to show them the Budgie through the clear plastic of the dog's water bowl.  When they actually saw him, they were very interested and concerned and they began making plans how best to help him.  

One of them went to find a cardboard box with a cellophane lid, and we were taken into a locked windowless room so that we could transfer the Budgie into the box without him being able to fly away. They were going to phone a local bird sanctuary to look after the little chap until his owner could be found. He was very tame and his wings were clipped so he obviously belonged to someone.

Wendy was allowed to push a blue button to open the door of the room where we were transferring the bird to the cardboard box. When we were back in Reception, the lady at the desk called Wendy over and gave her a couple of stickers, two little Post It blocks with the Police logo on it and a small furry toy that sticks on to a wall. She was chuffed as anything about that, and she is full of the story about rescuing the Budgie and wants to tell everyone all about it. She heard me say that his wings were clipped so he couldn't fly far and she understood that to mean that his wings were broken. I explained what I really meant, but I'm not sure it sunk in.

It really was a great adventure for her.

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