Tuesday 22 November 2011

POOR THING!








WARNING :  YOU MAY FIND THE FOLLOWING IMAGES UPSETTING






 





This unfortunate individual arrived in my garden, under the birdfeeders, at about 3.30 this afternoon. I don't know how it got, or what caused, the growth on the underside of its beak. However it seemed otherwise to be fit and healthy apart from  carrying its head on a slightly shorter (hunched) neck.

Unfortunately I didn't  get a chance to see if it could feed properly as it was chased away  by the amorous resident alpha male that 'rules' over the local Collared Doves. It did however rest for a short time on a fence post just outside my kitchen window enabling me to snap a few images through the double glazing and the gathering gloom.





It's always upsetting to see injured animals, especially when you cannot do anything to help them. I just hope that it's not in any pain and hopefully manages to make a full recovery.

11 comments:

holdingmoments said...

That does look nasty Trevor.
Such a shame to see things like this.
I wonder what it is?

The Herald said...

No clue as to what it is or what caused it Keith, I just hope the poor thing manages to get over it...[:{

grammie g said...

Hi Trevor...Oh that poor fella, I feel so bad for him !!
Strange looking thing, it's eyes look good and it looks healthy. though..odd!!

Getting snow tomorrow yuck!!
Grace

The Herald said...

Hi Grace... Yeh, apart from the obvious it looked to be in good condition. Sad to see it suffering though.

Take care in the snow!!...[;o)

The Herald said...

I think you're right Adrian, it does appear to be a long term thing and it didn't seem to affect it's behaviour at all. Out of curiosity it would have been interesting to so how it coped with feeding, perhaps it'll pay another visit!

One thing I'm pretty certain of , and I'm sure we can rule it out, is that smoking was the cause of its problem!!...[;o)

theconstantwalker said...

It does look unsightly Trevor but the dove appears to be ok otherwise (bright eyes and alert if your images were taken in a few quick shots) I hope it's just a one off injury and not a disease that can spread like the Greenfinches...

The Herald said...

Andrew. Yeh, as you say it was alert and otherwise looked fine, the photos were taken within seconds of each other. Like you I do hope it's a one off thing and not a disease, that would be awful.

The Herald said...

Adrian, I've just noticed a tryping eror in my comment to you!! In the last sentence there was, a was and the wasn't, wasn't there!...[;o)

The Herald said...

Bob, I hope it's ok and was just passing through, I've not seen it since!...[;o)

BlueShell said...

Ho...I agree with you! poor bird. I hope he is ok, now...without pain...
Bshell

The Herald said...

Thanks Blue Shell, Yeh, I can only hope it's still making out OK, It's a bit worrying tho' as I've not seen it since!...[;o)