A Wing and a Prayer

A small movement caught my eye on the way out the door Thursday morning. On the edge of the lawn was a small bird flailing in the grass. Its panicked chirping broke my heart. I called for Robert who brought a gardening glove to secure the bird so that he could examine it. An infant female Red-headed Woodpecker, it appeared to have a broken wing and puncture wounds from an animal attack. It was early and we weren't sure where we could take it, so we placed it in a pet carrier to protect it from predators. By the afternoon, the rangers at Lake Lotus park agreed to deliver her to a bird rehabilitationer who would nurse the bird back to health.