I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!

“Well, folks, I guess the time has come for me to leave the nest.  Mind you, it has been a bit of a squash in here just lately what with four others and also Mum and Dad coming in from time to time to feed us and to do the housekeeping.

So today is the day - Mum and Dad have told us that we are going out into the world so we need to get our muscles and wings moving.  It’s not easy doing that inside a wooden box and whenever I moved my wings, I always seemed to be in trouble for hitting someone in the face.  Sometimes even Mum would shout at me ‘Gregory, what are you doing, mind where you’re flapping your wings!’

When we woke up this morning, I could see it was sunny but quite windy, so didn’t think that we would be going out on our own today - wrong!  Mum and Dad had other ideas, but thankfully they brought us our breakfast and then off they went.  We could hear them calling so didn’t have a chance to go back to sleep and then there was Dad’s face at the opening saying ‘Come on you lazy lot, it’s time for your adventure!’

One adventure for me was seeing a woman in a pink robe and slippers, muttering to herself ‘You can do it!’ and taking lots of pictures - I think she is what I would call 'Blipping Mad'!

I decided to let all the others go first so that I could have a stretch inside the box - so one by one they left - and I could hear them all calling and Mum and Dad encouraging them.  It was absolute bliss to be able to stretch out my wings without being told off and I thought perhaps they had forgotten about me, but before long, Mum was back with a few choice titbits (no pun intended!) to entice me out.

I must admit I was a bit concerned - after all, we have been in here for almost four weeks and this box is about five feet up on a fence so that’s a long way for a little bird like me to fall.  But - needs must and before I knew it, Mum was back with my last meal in the box and then I DID IT!  I was flying and it was a tremendous feeling - I managed to miss flying into the woman in the pink robe and slippers - she was lucky, mind you, because she was standing rather close!  The middle photograph is the second before I flew!

And now we are out in the world and who knows what our future will be - we have had enough pep talks from Mum and Dad over the last few weeks, so we know what to expect.  Next door’s cat is Enemy Number 1 but I know we need to be on the lookout all the time.

Thank you for following our progress - we may be gone but that Blipping Mad woman is still around and you might even hear news of us in the next few days.

By the way, I understand the Blipping Mad woman has a husband, known as Mr. HCB, who also took a few pics and one of his is in the extras - it was difficult balancing on that thin wire, I can tell you!”

Love from Gregory xx

Come to the edge.
     We might fall.
Come to the edge.
     It's too high!
Come to the edge.
     And they came,
          and we pushed,
And they flew.

Christopher Logue

Mrs. HCB sent the photographs she took and the ones that Mr. HCB took to a man who runs the Swindon Birds and Wildlife blog - so you can see the video on there.