this morning I was quietly eating oatmeal and reading the paper when I caught sight of a little finch outside the window, as I glanced over I was startled to realize he was actually a zebra finch, the very same type as those in the aviary. My slowly awakening morning brain took a moment to make the connection and then I ran outside to see a big gaping hole in the aviary. Most of the birds were still inside, only 2 missing. As I was inspecting the hole, one of the little escapees was clearly very interested in getting back inside and kept flying around and peeping back and forth with his buddies.
I was torn between immediately fixing the hole to prevent more escapees or trying to net the fugitive. I opted to fix the hole and figured it was a lost cause to catch him. Somewhat dejected I went back inside to finish breakfast. As I was eating I once again noticed him really focused on getting back inside and he seemed especially interested in the little door I usually put the food bowl in. At that point I was feeling quite sorry for him and decided to risk propping the food door open to see if he would go back in. Well, no more that 60 seconds after I went back in the house he popped right back inside and started happily preening, inspecting his sleeping nest and peeping with relief to this buddies. I quickly closed the little door as my heart was just bursting with joyful feelings at this minor miracle, he's happy, his buddies are happy and I'm happy!!