Bird Irruptions
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Monday, January 30, 2006
Too Close
This afternoon, after I walked the woods at work, I was coming back in when I noticed a House Finch that didn't fly off as I approached the feeder. When I was about 8 feet away from it, I could see that it had House Finch eye disease (conjunctivitis). I was able to get within 12 inches of the bird as it picked up sunflower seeds from the feeder. It didn't see me. I could see that both of its eyes were swollen, red, and watery. While it is great to get close looks at birds, this was too close, and made me sad. Some birds with this condition can recover on their own, but many will die. If this bird couldn't see a 6 foot tall human 12 inches away, its hard to imagine that it can persist much longer in the wild.
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Dear Rob,
I hand-caught a goldfinch with just such a condition once, caged and isolated her, and gave her Zithromax for ten days (hey, whatever's on hand, right?) To my surprise, she recovered completely. What a joy to bring a bird back from the brink. Tricky part's catching 'em...and keeping them from giving chlamydia to your pets.
I vote a name change for the Canada goose. Much prefer your wawa name. Thanks for all the good bird flu stuff.
I badly need to redo my links but have no technical knowhow. Bill has promised to help me. You'll be there when he does.
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