Shorty bath time

Shorty was injured with a damaged wing when I found it in the yard and began feeding it and looking after it.

I thought the bird was he but Google helped me find that it was she. She mudlarks have a white throat.

Shorty spent the days in the yard with the three cats inside the house sleeping. She spent her nights inside the house in the cat box while the cats were all outside.

Because she could not fly she was restricted to running around the yard and as the only exit was through the two gates before the garage it meant they were blocked off with boards which worked except on one occasion that they were moved for the bins to go to the road and Shorty made her escape, across the road into Angela’s garden. She was determinedly agile and I could not capture her alone but one of the ladies from down the street who exercises each morning with a walk assisted so I took her back inside.

During the days she was held up in the air on a tree branch and encouraged to jump off to try to fly. Eventually she became proficient at doing what birds do and she flew up to perch on the fence before flying off.

Leaving. Note the white throat.

The video shows her having a bath which explained why the water kept disappearing rather than there being a cohort of thirsty birds which was my previous thought.

Click on the image to watch bath time.