Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Woody, my rescued, injured pigeon, now big and strong!

  1. #1

    Default Woody, my rescued, injured pigeon, now big and strong!

    Around June 25th I noticed a slightly injured baby pigeon (grabbed by next door's cat until my dogs chased it away) wandering around our garden for a couple of days and he was roosting at night on a branch just off the ground under a bush and I was constantly looking outside and never once did I see an adult feeding it so I picked it up and put it into a box lined with paper and old soft cloth.

    I called it Woodie and put in seed and water in the box and I read a bit about how to care for baby pigeons and fed it porridge, mushed up warm peas, sweetcorn etc and before too long it was feeding itself and loves seed, millet, peas and sweetcorn that I defrost and warm up.

    I remembered we still had a cockatiel cage from when we had cockatiels a long time ago that we gave to friends with an aviary when we moved house, so I dusted it off and it has become home for Woodie with a perch and plenty of room to stretch/flap his wings. Woodie loves being stroked on his tummy and is so gentle and although I feel very attached to him, three times I have let him go (as I realise he's a wild bird) and each time he has come back within a few hours and sat on the fence or on the lawn.

    We have adult pigeons around the area that my neighbour has always fed so one day when two landed on our lawn, Woodie was chirruping and moving his wings like baby birds do, but they ignored him and flew up into the ivy on our wall and Woodie followed them, but they soon disppeared so he remained in the ivy on his own for a couple of hours.

    He then disappeared over the wall so I thought he'd left home but he was soon back on the lawn and back in his cage for safety! Three days later, around 7pm at night, he was on the lawn and an adult pigeon appeared and the pair of them took off onto our roof, then over the back garden onto the roof over our back wall and I thought he'd gone for good but the next morning he was sitting beside our front fence, so he was back in the cage with his warm peas!

    He's had another attempt, gone over the wall and returned so we've had him since 24th June and he is definitely looking loads better that when we found him, looking a bit injured as can be seen in the picture with his wings spread out on the lawn, so I really hope he will survive and have a happy life and find some feathered friends, otherwise I think we've got ourselves a pet pigeon. Maybe if he leaves home, he'll come back every day for something to eat!

    I have been taking hundreds of pictures and video clips of him and here's a few pics from when I first saw him, injured! You can see when he was on the farmhouse roof, where he looked far too small to be out on the roof, so I was glad when he came back. Also he doesn't seem to have much of a tail and he struggles and flaps his wings much harder to gain height, unlike adult pigeons who have long tails that fan out when in flight! I'm open to advice!

    You can see he was injured (pic 1) when I first found him, probably next door's cat... hence he's been in the cage for protection and in our gazebo in case it rains at night!


    About 10 days after we had him... looking scared as this was the first time he was about to leave!


    His first attempt at leaving home!


    Looking happy and content in our ivy on the front wall, about 15 days after we'd started looking after him.
    HE'S SUCH A CUTE WEE THING!!!


    I know I have to let him go for good but I shall miss him hugely as he's so cute and sits on my hand, but hopefully once released, he will come back to feed with other pigeons that are around and come into the garden most days. I thought I would let him go today but it's raining and i'd hate him to get cold and wet, so I may delay it a bit until it's drier!

  2. #2
    Administrator rolf's Avatar
    Real Name
    Rolf
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Tilehurst, Berkshire
    Posts
    11,264
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus E-30, Sigma 50-500mm Lens, Sigma 150mm Macro lens, Zuiko 70-300mm lens, Sigma 50mm F1,4 lens, Extension tube, 1.4x tele-converter, Carbon FibreTripod, Monopod, Vanguard Binoculars, Celestron 80F-ED Scope, Remembird recorder.

    Default

    Well done, excellent little tale with hopefully a happy ending.
    Rolf

  3. #3

    Default

    Hi Rolf... glad you enjoyed my little story about Woodie...
    I could have written much more but didn't like to take up too much space!

    Here are some pics I took of him yesterday! Will the 'tufty' bit on his head stay there as he looks so cute?





    I think I should call him Tufty now!!!!!

  4. #4
    Administrator rolf's Avatar
    Real Name
    Rolf
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Tilehurst, Berkshire
    Posts
    11,264
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus E-30, Sigma 50-500mm Lens, Sigma 150mm Macro lens, Zuiko 70-300mm lens, Sigma 50mm F1,4 lens, Extension tube, 1.4x tele-converter, Carbon FibreTripod, Monopod, Vanguard Binoculars, Celestron 80F-ED Scope, Remembird recorder.

    Default

    LOL, certainly does look different, it may go on the next moult, but if it's due to the cat injury, he may have it for life.

    No problem with taking up space, got as much as you need here.

    Only thing is it's better to upload the photos, as then, even if you perform housekeeping at photobucket and perhaps move or delete photos, the threads will still be fully intact with relevant photos, even after several years. (it also stops your posts going into the anti spam moderation queue.
    Rolf

  5. #5

    Default

    Awww, I didn't think about what the cat may have done to it but I did notice his wing and back being injured, and would have thought that if his head was injured, his eyes may have got hurt but they're perfectly OK. Hopefully he'll keep his tuft and then if he comes back (if I ever let him go, that is), then I'd recognise him!!! )

  6. #6
    Slightly Mad Moderator ladylouise62's Avatar
    Real Name
    Louise
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Reading, Berks (England)
    Posts
    4,209
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus Evolt E520, and borrowed lenses and flash. Fuji Finepix S7000 for Macro A chair :)

    Default

    LOL - Love the tuft!!!!

    That's a lovely story, and well done for successfully saving him.

  7. #7
    Super Moderator Catherine's Avatar
    Real Name
    Catherine
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Retford, Nottinghamshire
    Posts
    3,277
    Cameras and Equipment

    Fujifilm FinePix S8200 plus Samsung J5 mobile phone camera. Chinon Compact 9-21 x 25 RB binoculars and 10x - 30x60 Zoom binoculars

    Default

    How wonderful, Woodie's mum!

    I'm sure Woodie might very well be the one creature who wants this wet weather to continue!

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Dumpling rescued
    By dig deep in forum Meeting Place and Chat Forum
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 19-06-2011, 06:03 PM
  2. Headline : Wood Pigeon eats other pigeon's head shock.!
    By ladylouise62 in forum Bird Photos General
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 27-08-2010, 11:59 PM
  3. Mr & Mrs Woody
    By Chocky in forum Artistic, Modified and Miscellaneous Photos
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 19-05-2009, 09:15 PM
  4. A few more Woody Woodpeckers
    By Babs in forum Bird Photos General
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 08-06-2008, 06:39 PM
  5. Woody, my frequent visitor
    By matty in forum Bird Photos General
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 10-06-2007, 09:54 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Copyright of members' images remains with the individual member and these images may not be reproduced or downloaded without their written permission.
If you cannot contact the relevant member for permission, please contact Thames Valley Birds and we will pass on your request.

pets and plants

WYW
Birding Top 500 Counter RSPB - Nature's Voice
The Admin Zone Directory of Forums


Top Lists