Poor bird

Couple of things today... Since it is the only non-blurry image I have, today my blog is starting with this poor bird. When I re-entered my front yard this evening it was dark and I saw a dark blob that was clearly a creature of some sort so I took the dog inside (he was trying to get closer), grabbed a camera and headed back outside.  A few feet away I saw it was a bird but it did not look like it had moved at all so I crouched down and slowly inched closer to it.  When I was perhaps a foot or so away, it suddenly flung itself off the ground, sort of rolling itself away from me, moving closer to the base of the low wall that holds a row of plants in front of the house.  As it was in motion, it appeared as though one of the wings was sprained/broken.  Aside from that I could not tell what was wrong -- both legs looked almost exactly the same (ie neither leg was clearly broken) and there was no blood anywhere.

The poor bird was clearly scared though, and both all-black eyes seemed to stare at me in scared shock while its chest rose and fell nearly as quickly as the tiny hummingbirds that come to feed in the back yard.  I called a family friend for guidance (their backyard opens onto a canyon and they often deal with more animals than I do -- this was my first injured bird ever, unfortunately I usually find dead animals).  After describing what happened, the fact that the bird was still not moving (aside from its chest there was not even a twitch of the tail)... It appeared as though the poor bird was not going to welcome any help (its breathing became more ragged even as I was talking) and I did not want to try and make it more stressed.  So I left it in the front yard and returned to the house feeling both guilty yet fairly certain that trying to touch it (using cardboard from a shoebox or perhaps a shovel) would not help it.

About two and a half hours later I went out to check on it and it had moved about a foot, maybe two, to hide (at least I assume it moved to hide, but maybe it is slowly traveling to the far side of the yard where there is a tree instead of being on cement??)  underneath my aunts car.  Her car is here temporarily, perhaps for a week or so, due to some sort of engine trouble.  Tomorrow I shall go looking for it again -- it was obviously not doing well but still -- it managed to move a bit on its own... Maybe it will have traveled a bit more tomorrow?  Shall wait and see...

Only other item to really add (well, two items) both are results of my doctors appointments I mentioned in earlier posts.  Amongst other things was suggested I go on daily walks with Zephyr (dog) -- we were out on a walk this evening (earlier in the day has not been an option due to the heat we have been having)... Hence my reference at the start of this entry that I was "re-entering the yard" -- I had started out later than planned because I was on the phone with my grandparents and the sun had already set so we really were only out for somewhere between five and ten minutes.  Yes, I know that is not a long walk at all, but it was just getting too dark to feel safe/comfortable so I turned around pretty quickly.  Second item:  my blood tests/results came back and the only thing they could find was my levels of vitamin D are a bit low so starting soon (perhaps tomorrow if I get to the store) I am to start taking daily supplements to see if that helps anything.  Well, good thing my blog title warns that I ramble!  Finished for now though, hope today went okay for all!