the-awkward-turt:

In such trying times I wanted to share a happy story…

So about a month ago I’m getting back from a break and hear a strange cheeping coming from my boss’s office. I poke my head in and see him staring at a small bird in a cage with a look of consternation.

“A guest brought this to the front office. They found it in the garden and thought it was injured.”

I take a closer look at the bird in question and my heart sinks. It’s a fledgling robin. Someone saw it hopping around learning to fly, assumed it was injured, and essentially kidnapped it.

“Did they say where they found it?” I asked.

“Not really, just somewhere on the green. I think I’m gonna take it to the Nature Center after work.”

But then we talked for a bit and decided to take the little bird out to the green just to see if the parents happened to show up. We set the robin out on the grass near some undergrowth, stepped away, and watched.

At first nothing happened, except a lot of unhappy cries from the fledgling. I played some robin calls on my phone.

Then finally we see an adult robin watching from a nearby tree. It lands and the baby immediately starts hop-sprinting towards the adult. At first the adult stays put, but then it flies away.

Our hearts sink.

And then the adult bird returns with a worm and plops it into the baby’s mouth. I almost applauded.

We watched for a few more minutes as the two parents showered their kidnapped offspring with food. We also posted a sign in the general vicinity warning guests not to kidnap the fledgling birds.

Sometimes things work out. I try to take heart in that, even when it’s little things.