A Bitter Tweet Tale

This afternoon I went out to my little "Mom sanctuary" only to find a most treacherous site. A female Western Tanager had somehow fallen into the frog pond and was unable to escape. Had I only went out to water ten minutes earlier then I may have been able to save her. As I scooped her sodden body from the water her feet clenched my finger, but not for long. She gasped a few times and then she was gone. I held her for a few moments, smoothed the wet, ruffled feathers of her face then set her down gently on the banister. Thoughts of a nest of eggs or chicks filled my mind, not only of the present but of the future. Goodbye, lovely friend.