My partner first found Billy Bob when he was just an egg! The parents, see photos below, had made a little nest in our little almond tree. The egg hatched and not before to long the little bird had grown some feathers and was becoming very vocal, unfortunately the nest didn't last, as the winds during this time of year, January, are very extreme. the nest blew apart and The little fledgling was on the ground bopping about and his parents were very anxious flying back and forth around him and making lots of noise. We tried to repair the nest and pop the little one back in but the wind and rain was so fierce that it wasn't long before the chick was blown back out again. Fortunately for him we found him quickly before a large goanna that was lurking under the tree found him!
We took the little chick inside and rang for advice on how to raise a baby gold finch. Soon we had the right food and information and over the months this little guy endeared himself in our hearts and our visitors hearts.
My partner named him Billy Bob..not sure why, but it seemed to fit! It was so amazing to watch this tiny little bird grow and mature, how his feathers changed colour, how his flying maneuvers improved and the most astonishing thing was his ability to mimic our whistle and the whistling of other birds he heard outside.
He really had the run of the whole house. We had always planed to let him go one day but he seemed to be so dependent on us, well so we thought...it just took one second of lack in concentration one morning with the door just opened and out flew Billy Bob...I was devastated, I watched him speechless and tried top call him back but he kept on flying off into the distance, I watched him till he disappeared. To this day I still think that he visits us and sometimes I hear a little bird wolf whistling in the distance. If he is still out there I'm sure he would have taught other Gold finches several new whistling tunes!
Oh my gosh, what an amazing story - first that you saved him at such a tender age. I remember when we rescued a Dove, nurtured him back to health, and then let him fly back into the wild - it was so emotional and an experience I would hate to have missed. I'm sure Billy Bob's not far away :)
ReplyDeleteAbi, thank you for reading my story, I didn't know if anybody ever came to this blog anymore!
ReplyDeleteBB was a real little character, he used to play in the tap water when I did the dishes. I've always loved birds but when you have the privilege of one sharing time with you, you get a whole new perspective into their personalities and for such a little guy he had an enormous personality!