This morning I became aware of a pair of killdeer that were very agitated and flitting from rooftop to the street, back on to a roof and back into the street. Three baby birds seemed to be trapped in our side courtyard and the parents were having a time trying to get them out from under our gate. They finally squeezed under and began their trek across the street, Momma and Daddy killdeer yelling all the way. I was watching and saw one of the baby birds fall into the grate in the street where the runoff ground water is drained away. The parents were making trips to the grate, trying to figure out what to do. The baby was in the drain, maybe 5'-6' down.
I called our Community Watch folks and they sent out a fellow to assess the situation. He in turn called the fire department and someone who would bring a net should we get lucky and be able to retrieve the little bird. I do not believe that these babies were able to fly yet.
It took about 2 hours and the Jaws of Life to get the grate to move......can you imagine???
My heart is singing with gratitude tonight, knowing that I live in a community where a tiny bird's life is valued to the extent that two Community Watch employees were on the scene as were two fireman, and eventually their supervisor.
I tried without success to post some photos of the rescue but the uploads failed. I'll try to add them to my album on my profile.