Ardath Rekha

So, this morning, I got Star up and put him in the aviary, and after we played for a few minutes he tried to get some water from his dish, which hadn't been filled yet. I went into the house to get water... and when I came out, he engineered a breakout from the aviary while I only had one hand to try to prevent it. Argh.

Now, I'd been planning on giving him yard access on Monday, so he wasn't really jumping the gun by much... and I was probably being a bit overly conservative in my timetable for him. He's a runt... developmentally far ahead of other starlings his size and even the ones that are a lot bigger. But it's been a nervewracking day. My mother tried to help me, and he flipped out at her bright yellow gloves and fled the yard.

There have been several possible sightings of him all day, but I can't be sure. The fortunate thing is that, during the week he's been out in the aviary (a repurposed screenhouse we've had for years and years) all of the local starlings (and many other species of birds as well!) have been extremely friendly with him, so I know he has friends and allies all around the neighborhood. But I called out his name every time I heard a baby starling in the yard, hoping maybe he'd come down.

I have to remind myself that this is a successful release, and that he's been able to feed himself very well for the last few days and had almost completely stopped begging me for food. He can pull up worms, and if he's snotty about actually eating them, he won't be when it's the only choice on the "table," so he'll be able to feed himself just fine. And if not, I will be around alllllll day tomorrow just to make sure he gets whatever he needs.

Still. Nervewracking. Releases always are. Especially when they don't quite happen on schedule.