Tonia, Ruby and I were on the lake Saturday morning, just getting back in the kayak after a short potty break at Boat Launch B of the Mauch Chunk Lake.
We could see what looked like a fish jumping, but there were birds flying around it. It turned out it was this little bird struggling to fly after getting in the water a little too far when diving for bugs, I assume. So we kayaked full-speed out to where it was, scooped it onto my paddle and let it rest on the kayak.
You could tell it was stunned after nearly drowning. We tried to let it out by Boat Launch B but it wouldn’t go anywhere. When Tonia said it might be a sitting duck for other critters, I decided to let it ride on my kayak until it flew away. If it didn’t, we’d take it to the Environmental Center.
We continued on our ride toward Boat Launch A, and the bird began to become more aware, watching my paddles go from side to side. It flapped its wings sporadically and turned around once, but didn’t show any signs of wanting to fly. It stayed with us an hour.
As we disembarked at Boat Launch A, our little friend finally flew away. All he/she needed was a little time and a little leave-me-alone support until it calmed down after its trauma.
Sometimes our friends may need the same…a little time and support but the space to allow them to do what they need to do when they need to do it. Just knowing a you have a friend like that means a lot.
(Now the only memory of that encounter is this picture and a few poop marks where it rested for the hour-long return!)
