I enjoy the annual return of the migrating birds.  The variety of songs, colours, and shapes.  It is like a game to play with toddlers.  What sound matches which bird? (A little more elusive than “What says moo?”. )  A bird that has recently returned to our area is the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (such a great name).

Last year we rescued a very young Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker from a cat.  The cat had climbed up the tree that the bird was in, knocked it to the ground, and then pounced on it.  We got to the bird before the cat could pounce again, but the bird was definitely  stunned.  I carefully placed the bird into a shoe box and attempted to transport the bird.  We got it to the backyard before it made good its escape.  It glided, wobbled, then ran to and up the tree that shadows our backyard.  There the bird stayed.  We named him (?) George.  The children thought he was curious, thus George.  I thought he was addlepated.  The bird was very clearly confused.

George stayed in the tree, seldom moving, for many days.  We weren’t sure if he could fly, but we figured he was safe and had food.  George proved his lack of bird senses when tree removing people came to take down part of the tree.  A big, loud truck came.  George didn’t move.  A ladder and a crane were placed into the tree.  George didn’t move.  Men with chainsaws climbed up.  George remained where he was.  Loud chainsaws, branches and debris fell.  George didn’t move.  Several days later, George wasn’t in the tree when we went to look.  I assumed the worse.  How could a bird without any bird sense survive?

Flash forward to this past week.  Returning from a dog walk, I heard a persistent tapping on metal sound, followed by loud squawking.  I looked for the source of the sound and found a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker at the top of my ‘remnant of the past’ television antenna, furiously pecking and then complaining about it.  I am not sure but, I do not think this average behaviour for this type of bird.  I am liking the thought that this is George.  This morning he seems to have found a more exciting piece of metal to hammer on, my neighbour’s chimney for their wood stove.