The Return of Rhea the Rescue Pigeon

 

In January 2022, along with many other birds that frequent our garden, a pigeon with an injured wing was spotted. She was observed all day and only when it was clear she could not fly and therefore was in danger from predators (foxes and cats in our area) we decided to step in.
To read all about her rescue, rehabilitation and more pop on over to this post > Rhea the Rescue Pigeon.

This post however is a short and heartwarming story about her return.

In the year or so since we released Rhea, despite keeping an eye out, we don't think we have seen her amongst the flock who come daily to our gardens for food, water and rest. To be honest, I had a bad feeling that she hadn't made it through the winter. Though healed and able to fly, she was still technically the 'Omega' or 'Runt' of the flock and I was worried she'd been lost in some way but I guess such is nature. We can only do so much to help protect them and when I released her I'd done so knowing that I might never see her again.


That was until May 3rd. We were sat in our front garden to try and get our monthly couples portrait (for the previous month because we'd forgotten!). We don't use our front garden to sit in at all and it is primarily for the wildlife but on this day it was hot, sunny and pretty much empty of any birds...then 1 lone pigeon seemed to fall from the sky and start to walk around close to us. It had a very slightly dropped wing that could have been from a previous injury and Mr H and I looked at each other and straight away said, '...is that Rhea...?!'.

They ate, drank and then settled down for a rest. I stayed with them for over an hour, talking with them and even calling them Rhea a few times, to which I received head tilts and cooing, then came inside for tea during which they stayed in the same place looking lethargic. We decided that if they were still there before we went to bed and hadn't taken off and joined the other birds that came and went after we'd gone inside we'd see if they needed help. At this point I'd looked back on old photos and from markings, size etc it was pretty obvious that this was indeed Rhea. Mr H suggested she needed help and knew where to return to get it.

A couple hours later we went outside and easily got a hold of her. We gave a quick visual once over then made her comfortable in the hutch/coop/run out back, then left her to rest overnight. She made no fuss, she ate, drank, slept and cooed away to me and it seemed that she had just been exhausted and needed a rest.
The next day she just chilled some more, I sat with her for a while and read to her but she showed no sign of wanting to leave so she stayed another night in Chateau de Hallow
Some of our regular pigeon visitors stopped by the following afternoon to say hello to Rhea and a particular male who we have dubbed Marble due to the white colouring on his head was calling to her so I opened the run and she walked out. It took a while but she jumped from hutch to bird table to fence, finally flying up onto the roof (just as she had last year) where she stayed for a while. She eventually must have taken off again as we could no longer see her when checking later that day and we haven't spotted her since.

It was so lovely to have her visit again and I'm over the moon that she was okay and didn't need anything more than an overnight rest. Hopefully, we do see her again but I'd rather next time it was surrounded by the other birds and not needing help, though of course, we will always help anyone in need.

Again, you can read more about Rhea and her original visit last year here > Rhea the Rescue Pigeon.

[As I feel the need to state in all posts of similar content, I never interfere unless necessary. I do have previous experience and knowledge of wildlife. I always consider options extremely well and consult other channels if I am unsure. There are very few wildlife rescues in my county and with the perils faced those who do take in wildlife are overwhelmed so if there are no immediate/extreme health concerns I am able to provide general care.]