Tuesday, December 9, 2014

DIARY OF A CURLEW CARER # 12

Miracle of  the  chick  which rose from the  dead .

 
About 9pm it seemed  that something was upsetting  the  Curlews up near the back fence.Totter out of the recliner  and go to investigate, turn on  the  outside  light . Immediately one  of  the adults  and one of the chicks  are  seen  near the mandarin tree, but there  is a lot of  shrieking  up  in a dark corner . Go inside and get  the  torch, come out  and  the adult bird  has  disappeared  , so has the  chick.  Walk towards  the back flashing the torch  and suddenly come upon a  chick  spread  out , motionless, seemingly dead . Oh no.  Poor little  chicky. Bend down and pat it , no response . Shine the  torch up close, bend down  and make  an  inspection . What is that sticking out  its  beak? ... a lizard. Had  it choked on its catch ?   Pull out the lizard.   Did not  like the idea  of applying  mouth to beak. By this stage  my wife had   come outside and  asked what was  wrong . Looks  as  though  the chick  choked  on  a  lizard,  I  announce, mournfully , in a CSI voice.

She says to  pick up  the chick and take it  up the back where the  parents  are and see what happens .  Take the  lifeless  bird , put it on  the  ground , give it a  pat . The other  chick  makes a  peep-peep sound ... and suddenly  up  jumps  the  lifeless one , standing about as  tall as  an emu , and  sprints  away  to  join  the  family.

There  are  times over  the coming  days when  the  fast  growing  chicks seem increasingly ungainly , unable to  handle their  long legs . Thus  when they sit down and roll over on a side , they  appear   dead    from  a  distance , causing   concern .