How a little bird brought people together. A diary:
Wednesday May 24, 2006
Dani was walking his Dog Max. Max stopped by a little tiny bird crawling on the ground and crying for food. It was just by Frank Shipe home and Frank who happened to be outside. Initially they felt that there is no chance for this little to survive and so Dani left the bird and continued his walk with Max. But his mind was not in Peace. He felt that agony of the little baby bird who was crying for help while joggers almost stepped on her. Suddenly an idea flashed like lightening in his mind. "Look for worms" was the idea and Dani listened and very soon found about 6 small worms. He rushed back to the bird and tried to feed her. It worked and the baby bird calmed down a bit. The Dani took her in the palm of his hand and walked home (Max was very good and did not even need a leash. Max knew how serious the situation was). One the way home Dani found some straw and Haya his wife found a cardboard box to put it in. The next step was to try to involve the neighbors to help feed the bird. Edan (Ellen's and Andy's son) started looking for worm and Katelyn and Kyllikki volunteered to take the bird to the Mall to get the proper food.
This is the last report we got from Katelyn.
"It is stable now and doing great. I fed it some baby bird food mix, and it's in an aquarium with a heat lamp now. I have figured out that it is a 7 day old Starling."
We will keep you updated how the bird is doing.
Saturday, May 27
Hi Dani,
The baby is doing great, she's eating more than ever! I've decided to
call her 'Sprinkle'. I'm feeding her a mix of soaked dog food chow,
mealworms, baby parrot formula and crickets. She is incredibly perky and
alert. Her feathers are coming in fast, pretty soon she'll be fully
feathered! She even responds to the sound of my voice. I'll keep you
updated,
Katelyn
May 31, 2006:
Another Sprinkle update:
Today she is 11 days old! She's had a couple of 'firsts' yesterday and
today. Last night she stood up to look at me, peering over the edge of
her nest box. Today, she preened for the first time, and she stood on one
foot and scratched her head with her other foot. She is now completely
covered in fuzz and soft chocolate brown feathers. She loves to cuddle
under my chin, and fall asleep in my lap. We're predicting she's going to
hop out of her nest box tomorrow!
-Katelyn
Report June 9, 2006:
Hi Everybody,
Sprinkle is 18 days old today. She started flying yesterday, and now is
obsessed with it.
I set up a big bird cage, with perches so she can fly around. She ate her
first pieces of bread, apple and grape today. As you can see, she's
turned into quite a bird! She flew up to the windowsill, so I grabbed my
camera and shot some really beautiful stuff.
-Katelyn:
Recent letter fro Katelyn's mom:
Dear Dani,
Thanks for your email. I'm sure we can find her some books and take them to Muller Center.
We've been wanting to have you over to see the bird (Sprinkle) - I've been trying to get the house cleaned so it looks good enough to have you come over.
Sprinkle is a joy, we are so glad you brought her to Katelyn. She is a wonderful being- loving, curious, smart and funny (Sprinkle, I mean). Katelyn hasn't been updating the bird's website (she ran out of webspace, we have to get her some more, but we haven't yet.) You wouldn't believe that pink, bald baby bird you brought here, now has all her grown-up feathers and talks!
The bird speaks many languages: "Starling" (the kind of bird she is), Cockatiel (what Rocky speaks), Cat (she can meow) and People - she can speak in Katelyn's, Laurel's and My voices. She can say "Sprinkle is a good bird", "Sprinkle is a pretty bird", "Hello, Sweetie", "I love you", "What are you doing?", "Thank you", "please", "Give me a kiss" and "Kiss, Kiss". And the amazing thing is she uses her phrases appropriately; She loves to take a bath and after you give her a bath (in the sink) she often says "Thank You" !
Katelyn is trying to get back into Ithaca College, they say they are sending her the readmit letter soon. Then she can register for classes for January, but all the classes will probably be full by then. Oh well... we'll see what happens. Katelyn is making lots of computer art and designing furniture and clothes on the computer, as well. She is being very creative and that's good.
Speaking of double rainbows, someone came into the hallway at the Dewitt Mall this afternoon and "there's a beautiful rainbow outside!" And all the people in the Mall went out to look! And everyone loved it! (That's what I like about the Dewitt Mall, people are like that - I suppose if someone said that at Pyramid Mall, no one could leave their stores to go out and see a rainbow, but we can!)
I hope things are well with you and your lovely family? I'll keep cleaning and have you over to see the birds (Rocky, too!).
Link
to Katelyn's pages and also movies about Sprinkle. Do not miss the
Bath movie!!!!
Continuous update from Sprinkle Grandma recording Sprinkles amazing vocabulary: