baby bird

Forgot to mention this baby bird that has been trying to take up residence on our back deck. Problem... we have a very large and fun loving dog (Oscar... for those of you that haven't met him, he's supposed to be a "small" dog. He's a beagle/basset hound mix that looks more basset hound than beagle).

We think that the bird fell out of a nest that must be located in a large oak tree in our back yard. He seems to be fine, at least there are no apparent injuries. The biggest issue is that he doesn't have all his feathers yet, so try as he might, there is no flying for this little guy.

We first noticed him 2 days ago. Actually I noticed the dog watching something in the bushes very intently and then bolted out the door to rescue the poor bird (by restraining the dog). The dog def. wanted to "play" (at least that is what you tell the 5 year old watching from the back window). So I put Oscar on his teather in the back yard so that the bird would at least have a fighting chance, and I went back inside. Later searches of the deck revealed that the baby bird was gone.

Then yesterday I noticed him hoping around the deck again. I have no idea where he had been, but he was back. I went out and tried to shoo him along, and he did leave, but later in the afternoon he was back again (I'm beginning to think that this bird has a death wish). Once again I was holding our excited puppy back. The bird eventually went thru a hole in our fence into the neighbors yard. (Of course our neighbor has an outdoor cat, so I'm not sure he is fairing much better on that side.)

The parents have been watching him very closely and coming to feed him. The few times the dog has tried to go near him he gets attacked by some very fast moving and loud adult birds. Still, I'm not so sure what the little guys chances really are. I'm just hoping he doesn't end up dead on our deck, as the kids won't know what to do with that information, especially if it's the dog that has helped the bird find the next world. I wish I had a picture of the little guy, but I've been too busy trying to keep him from becoming dog snack.