EDITORIAL: While driving through Lansford yesterday evening (Sunday, June 28, 2015), I panicked after I thought I drove over a baby bird sitting in the exact center of the southbound lane of US209. After realizing I missed it, I made a quick, yet illegal, U-turn and stopped my truck in the road to prevent anyone from unintentionally killing the bird.
Not wanting to touch the bird for fear of it being rejected by its parents, I just kept nudging it, saying, “Come on birdie, fly away.” It didn’t work. The bird just laid in the road looking at me. So I emptied a shopping bag and picked it up with the bag and put it in my truck.
Since I had just left the Summit Hill Hootenanny, I knew that a few volunteers with the Carbon County Environmental Education Center (CCEEC) were at the event. Except for winking at me a few times and turning its head back and forth, the bird didn’t move very much the entire ride there.
Once I arrived back at the Hootenanny, the bird started to fly around in my truck. What a surprise to me.
I opened my truck door and let it outside in hopes it would continue to fly away. It only flew a small distance to a nearby front yard. So I searched for the CCEEC volunteers. When I got back to the bird, it wasn’t there.
I hope it flew away and found a juicy insect somewhere.