Bobsey's story
This is Bobsey, a juvenile wood pigeon that became a regular in our garden over the last few weeks. He isn't that bothered about us getting close as long as there's bird seed available.
Sadly, yesterday we found Bobsey sitting on the ground and it became clear that something was wrong as he didn't really move for several hours. There was an indication one of his wings had been hurt as it was hanging lower than the other. Rather than leave him outside overnight we decided to catch him and put him in a darkened box with food and water and see if there was any change the next day (he could have just been dazed after a collision). Turns out he was unable to fly more than a foot into the air, though still was not easy to catch carefully.
This morning, he was (thankfully) still alive and when we opened the box in the garden it took a while, and much flapping before he was able to perch on the edge of the box (where you see him here). At this point we decided his injury was more serious than we could handle, so we rang around to find somewhere that could treat and look after him.
So, at midday today, Bobsey was taken to Wildlives Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, a registered charity just outside Colchester that rescues, treats and hopefully goes on to release everything from Bats to Barn Owls, Hedgehogs to Herons and in this case juvenile wood pigeons.
The woman running the centre gave Bobsey a thorough look over and discovered he'd broken his right wing in three places. : ( The joint was still good, just the main wing bone had the breaks. He was taken off to the site hospital to put the wing in a splint. Hopefully the breaks can heal and he will enjoy a full life doing things wood pigeons do.
That was the last we saw of him. Fingers crossed for you Bobsey.
.Black. 11 months ago | reply
Fingers crossed indeed. Always been a bit of fan of the much maligned pigeon, and more so the wood pigeon, for its "Foo Fooo Foo" call. Bobsey has a bit of a manky beak, mind.
a2zumac 11 months ago | reply
lucky bird, that Bobsey. I see that he's showing his good side to you!
Spookygonk 11 months ago | reply
Update: rang the wildlife centre and was told his wing was strapped up, he was "eating and looking perky." Great news.
It will be three weeks before they can see if the bones have healed and he will have a chance of flying again.
.Black. 11 months ago | reply
Good news. Did they clear up that manky beak, though??
Magnus Imago Photography 11 months ago | reply
Well done you, and love the detail in the pic. I have done my fair share of driving injured animals to rescue centres. There used to be a place in Benfleet. You had to go down Jotmans lane and under the railway. Hope it's still there.
Spookygonk 8 months ago | reply
Update:
Rang the wildlives centre today for an update and was told Bobsey had recovered enough to be released. The damage to his wing means Bobsey isn't the strongest flyer, so instead hangs around the centre nature reserve along with many other birds who have also been rehabilitated (obviously they serve good bird seed!).
A happy ending!