RELEASE DAY!!!

When we woke up this morning about 7am, Sammy was flying around in his aviary kind of frantic and agitated looking.  He was flying back and forth bouncing softly off the screen sides and roof of his aviary, over and over again.  I thought maybe he was out of food and was really hungry, so I took him some fresh plump mealworms, and he ate a couple, plus 2 grasshoppers and one big black ant, but that didn't help to settle him down.

He didn't try to land and perch on me, as had become his morning habit, and did not want to be picked up or to really be near me at all.  I left the aviary and sat on the front porch with Frank to watch him for awhile.  Sammy continued to seem upset, distressed and restless, flying continually back and forth from screen to screen.

I think he wanted out of his aviary and this was his way of letting me know that he was ready and eager to be out in the world.  Sammy was hunting and eating on his own very well, had successfully spent a couple of nights outside in his aviary and his flight was strong and confident. We decided we had to give him what he seemed to so desperately want...today was going to be the day he got his freedom.

I took him back inside the house, which was no easy feat like it usually was.  Every time I tried to pick him up to carry him inside, he wiggled himself right out of my hands.  When I finally had him snug and secure in my cupped hands and tucked into my cardigan, I took him upstairs to my room and as soon as I opened my hands he flew right off.  While Sammy and I were inside, Frank was busy taking off the front screen wall of the aviary, so that he could choose when to leave it.  Our plan was to leave his aviary up for several days, in case he wanted to go back into it for safety and security, which is part of a soft release.

He flew the length of the room a few times before settling to perch on a window sill, where he quietly sat and looked out the window.  If I put human emotions to this, I would say he was looking wistfully out the window at the world he wanted to be a part of.

Wistfully watching the world that was about to become his

I tried offering him more mealworms, and although he ate 2, he still didn't seem like himself.  Sammy has always been a calm, confident-seeming, trusting little bird and his behaviour today just did not seem normal for him.  He didn't like me approaching him too close, didn't want to hop on my hand for food, didn't try to land on me, didn't try to have his morning cuddle, he just seemed very detached, wary, agitated and almost restless.

I brought him back outside about 8:30am, placed him on his feeding platform in his aviary, and he flew right off onto one of his perches for a few seconds.  Then he flew onto my head, hopped down to my shoulder and sat there calmly quiet.

Moments before release

I, however, was not so calm - I felt anxious, worried, nervous, excited for him and I felt like I was shaking inside.  From here on out, he would be in charge of his own fate and at the mercy of his environment and predators - I wouldn't be able to keep him safe and out of harm's way any longer.

Sammy and I

I spent several seconds savoring his closeness and just looking at him, he seemed very at ease now...so different from the start of his morning, almost as if he knew he was getting his freedom.  I stroked him one more time, whispered to him to be safe and that I loved him, took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the aviary with him perched calmly on my shoulder.

Saying goodbye...

Seconds after walking out of the aviary

Sammy sat on my shoulder for about 30 seconds, quietly looking around, then he suddenly flew onto our song bird platform feeder a few feet away from me.

First flight of freedom - to the bird feeder

Relaxing with a little scratch

He stayed there for a couple minutes, and had himself a drink of water from his shallow bath dish that I had placed there.  Next, Sammy flew onto the aviary roof for a couple of minutes, turning his head this way and that, observing everything around him.

Sammy watching his world from the roof of his aviary

I felt much calmer at this point and was enjoying watching him out where he belonged. That is until he flew off into the beech tree several feet away and several feet up.  I think my heart actually jumped into my throat, to see him so far away and out of my "reach".

First time perching in a real tree!

Sitting quietly in a beech tree

He didn't stay in the beech for long, moving to a huge hemlock tree across the driveway, then to a maple tree next to it, a few minutes spent in each one.

High up in a hemlock tree

Hunkered down in hemlock tree

Hopping along a branch

Resting quietly from his first big flights

Watching him fly so high and confidently was simply breathtaking.  His wing beats were strong and powerful, even gliding part of the way and his landings were steady.  He looked so small up in the branches and blended in to his surroundings very well.  It was a very moving experience, watching him explore his world for the first time.

Next thing we knew, he flew off over the house and was gone.  This part, I was definitely not prepared for...I guess I didn't expect him to be out of my sight so quickly.  My research on raising him had led me to believe that he would hang around for several days, weeks, if not a couple months, just as he would have stayed near his parents to be fed and protected. So I think my naive mind pictured Sammy staying close enough for me to see him.  I kind of panicked when he disappeared, and started crying while I walked around the yard calling his name "Sammy Sammy Sammy", which is what I would say (since I can't whistle) when I entered his aviary or opened his indoor cage.  I'm pretty sure this was totally inappropriate behaviour on my part - certainly not how a professional rehabber would behave - and I should have just gone about my business, happy that he survived, was healthy and able to fend for himself.  But, once again, my heart was in charge of my brain and I felt overwhelming sadness and even a bit of fear for him, worried if he was going to be okay.

Sammy showed up in the front yard again a long, long 10 minutes later and the relief I felt upon seeing him was overwhelming.  He went straight to our feeding station, where his mealworm dish and bath were ready for him.  He ate a couple of mealworms, had a drink of water and a quick bath - like it was just another day.  Just like a child, he was oblivious to how worried I had been.

Having a little bath

Getting good and soaked

After his bath, Sammy flew onto his aviary and on one of the 3 strong ropes that my husband, Frank, had hung at various heights between the trees and our corner porch post and spent some time preening his feathers. When Sammy flew off out of our sight about 20 minutes later, I felt much calmer, happier and confident that he would be okay.

Sammy on his perching rope

Do I look tough?

Spreading his gorgeous blue wings to dry

Eastern Bluebirds like to perch on hydro lines, fence posts, etc to scan the ground below in search of prey that they will swoop or flutter down to catch.  Since our hydro lines were underground, the idea was that these ropes would be his own personal perching lines.  I also had Frank make a couple of perching posts, kind of like crosses, out of 2 by 2 lumber and pound them into the ground, so he could use these in the backyard for hunting perches.  Did I go a little overboard in preparing for his release?  Probably, but if he was going to hang around for a little while, I wanted his territory to be as "bluebird friendly" as possible.  Remember, I'm the woman who hunted fresh bugs for him daily while he was being raised so he could learn to hunt!

We didn't see him again until mid-afternoon, when he flew towards me from the wooded edge of our backyard as I went outside.  He flew over and down towards me 3 times, then flew across our pond to a large tree and clung like a woodpecker on the side of the trunk.

Clinging high on a tree trunk

A few minutes later, he came into the front yard again, had himself a mealworm snack, perched on his ropes again (which may have been going overboard, but he definitely seemed to like them!), in the beech trees and then back onto the rope close to the porch post.  I walked over to him, held my hand out below him and he hopped right on.  Sammy moved to my shoulder, close to my neck and under my ponytail.  I thoroughly enjoyed this incredibly special "in the wild" cuddle-time that Sammy shared with me for several minutes before he was once again off exploring.

Sammy flew through the front porch a few times after that while we were sat there enjoying the beautiful day watching him come and go.  He also came in for more mealworms and a few live grasshoppers that I offered him.  He discovered a dead, exposed limb on a maple tree that overlooks the grass area surrounding our pond, a good hunting perch, and rested there for a few minutes.  At 3:45pm, Sammy flew off over the pond into the edge of the woods and that was the last we saw of him today.

At 44-45 days old, it was done.  He made it.  Sammy was free.

Can a bird love?

Sammy and I have a new routine now, he has his breakfast inside, gets some flight time in our large bedroom to help strengthen his wings and then he goes to play in his aviary.  He will be spending his days and evenings in the outdoor aviary from here on out, which I'm sure he will love.

I put some live crickets in with him this morning, to see if they would interest him, but he didn't show pay much attention to them. I also continue to play recording of Eastern Bluebird songs and calls and he becomes quite alert when he hears them.

We had some light rain this afternoon, and being the smart little guy that he is, he stayed on his perch in the corner under his roof shelter and kept dry.

Once he was back inside for the night and was fed, he enjoyed stretching his wings and doing some strong flying.  My grand-daughter, Tenley is here for a few days with her family and I honestly believe he remembers her.  He flew to her a few times, perched on her little shoulder and proceeded to snuggle himself right in against her neck under her beautiful long hair.  I'm beginning to think that if a bird can love, then little Sammy loves Tenley as much as she loves him. He seems so relaxed and content with her, and Tenley is over the moon with happiness.

Sammy tucked in Tenley's hair

Sorry for the pic quality, they were taken with my Iphone without a lot of light, lol.

Tenley and Sammy..who's more in love??

At dark, Sammy was placed back into his nest in his sideways kleenex box in the corner of his indoor cage and chirped softly a couple of times as I draped the towel over the cage.  Then, all was quiet for the night.

BIG Day Today!!!

Well, life with Sammy started off pretty much the same today as the previous mornings.  He was snuggled inside his nest in his cage when I lifted the towel off at 7:30am.  There wasn't any poop away from the nest, other than just over the edge of the nest as always, so I don't think he left his nest overnight.

He did a lot of stretches, flapped his wings, hopped around a little bit, scratched and stood tall. His first morning meal was as usual, me having to gently pry open his little beak and pop the food into his mouth.  After his first feeding, I decided to leave the towel on his cage open a bit, to let a little light in.  I was trying to simulate sunlight coming in through his nest hole in the wild.  He would also possibly be doing some "peeking" out his nest hole at this age.  I want to provide him with the closest to normal experiences as can be possible when you're a wee bluebird baby being raised by a human mom inside a house.

At his next two feedings, I was surprised to find him perching comfortably on his low maple branch perch at the other end of his cage!  The branch is about an inch off the floor of the cage and over a foot away from his nest.

Did he walk there?  Did he hop onto the perch?  Did he...gasp...oh my gosh...no way...fly?!?!

Whatever he did I'll never know, but it was an incredible sight to see him perching there so calmly and casually, like it was something he had been doing his whole entire short life.

In the early afternoon, he began chirping when I had him out to feed him, something he hadn't done before.  I gently rubbed the side of his beak, as I always do, and this time he FINALLY opened his mouth on his own for each morsel!!  An incredible breakthrough!  I hated having to make him open his mouth, so I was very happy to see him "ask" to be fed!

At 3pm, while he was out of his cage for a feeding, he briefly (like for a split-second) flapped his wings fast on my dresser and FLEW!!  He spread those gorgeous blue wings and flew strong and steady about 12 feet across the room, his landing only a bit awkward.  Then he flew about 4 more feet and landed on a windowsill.  Yay Sammy!!  He did it!!  He fledged!!  He could fly!!

I felt as proud as I did when each of my two sons took their first steps.  Yes, I am very, very attached to this sweet, beautiful bird.

I brought Sammy outside in his cage at 5:15pm and he seemed to enjoy the new sights and sounds. He did a fair amount of pleasant-sounding chirping, flew from perch to perch in his cage and to the bottom of his cage. Sammy did quite a lot of looking around outside his cage and he got quiet when I played the Eastern Bluebird song recording, although he didn't appear nervous or scared.  I gave him about half an hour of getting used to seeing and being "outside", then I moved him into our screened-in gazebo and brought him out of his cage.  My husband and I had placed some maple branches in the gazebo so he would have some safe, "normal" places to land and perch on.  Sammy and I stayed in there for about an hour and a half enjoying the fresh air.

He flew back and forth across the gazebo severak times, made some chirping sounds and was very alert and watchful of everything around him.  He was seeing and experiencing a whole new world for the first time.

He was quite interested in the goldfinches and purple finches that would fly past on their way to the seed feeders and watched them intently.  He was fed two of his meals "al fresco" in the gazebo, mouth wide open on his own for several of his portions.

After I brought him back inside, I put him back in his indoor cage and brought him out for feedings as usual, as well as some flight time.  He flutters his wings seemingly effortlessly, and the blue on them is brilliant. Hislandings were still a little shaky sometimes, and he would often land on the curtain rods and once on the top of a bedside lamp shade.

My husband, Frank, came in about 9:30pm, right after his last feeding and Sammy flew right to him and landed on his shoulder up against his neck.  Frank has been keeping his distance and not getting involved in the raising and caring of Sammy, as he felt he shouldn't, so it was surprising to see him fly straight to him, like they were old friends.

A beautiful flight to...Frank!