Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Hawfinch

Trying to accomplish my work yesterday in the morning, my colleague knocked on the door and asked me a favor. She brought a wounded bird with her to work because she wanted to take it to a shelter where the birds are taken care of and healed, if possible. Lacking time, she asked me to take it there instead of her. Of course I said yes. It was a curious hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) female that I was driving to the shelter once before noon. I talked to her, she was looking at me, eating the seeds on a floor of a big box which I placed on a seat next to me. She was quiet, looking at me with her curious eyes most of the time. A lovely bird. Rarely we come so close to wild birds, so this was special and precious experience for me.

On the way back to work, I got hungry and wanted to stop in a nearby shopping center, happy that I did something good that day. Of course, I wasn't careful and I drove over a straight line; sure the police stopped me. It was my lucky day, I guess, they just reminded me to be more careful the next time. I will try to be.

I was told that hawfinches have so strong beak that they can break one's finger. Also blue tits, those little small birds can hurt you badly if you try to hold them in your hands. Well, this is just a natural way of defending ourselves, although sometimes we do more harm with this than not.

Karma for today: If you give, you will be provided for.

3 comments:

paperseed said...

You did a nice job capturing her so clearly with her curious look. Such a lovely golden color

Feronia said...

What a beautiful bird, Pina! And a lovely photo, so much expression.

Pina said...

:) When I took this photo of a bird, I was afraid that it would jump on my finger and bite me. So this was actually a quick but fortunate shot. :)