While doing my laundry, I was surprised by how brave a Eurasian tree sparrow is, eating food scraps at an arm’s length. It also kept peculiarly bobbing its head my way, making me wonder if it’s just the bird checking out on me.
Was it afraid I’d sneak out on it?
Later, I realized why it kept on bobbing its head my way. Because it has a bad right eye, the skin closing in on itself. The bird also had this shaggy look that made me think it must be an old bird.
And perhaps, being an old bird, already seeing a lot in its short lifetime, made it braver around me.
It even swooped low in front of me! It amazed me for a moment and made me admire it even more.
It’s nice to have a wild bird up close.
A few minutes later, it came back near where I was doing my laundry. I never really paid attention to it, as it was happily trotting to and fro. Then, in hindsight, I saw a white shadow run behind me. Then I hear a crunch.
When I looked around, the moment unfolding in front of me took time to register in my mind. I didn’t understand it at first until I heard myself scream.
I ran to my cat with the old bird in its mouth, and I heard another crunch and an angry hiss.
And that’s how the old bird died.
jessa 