A bird in the . . .

 . . . conservatory is worth seeing.

 On Sunday evening a confused, new member of the garden avian community flew indoors. There are many plants on the windowsills and floor, enough to fool an inexperienced fledgling into thinking it’s found a rare jungle.

Herschel alerted Barry to the incomer, and he and Jellicoe were summarily hustled into the kitchen. As Barry searched for the elusive chick, wondering if his eyes had been playing tricks on him, Herschel suddenly signalled. Sure enough, a small bird was fluttering in one of the plant trays. It looked as if it was having a dip, though I suspect it was too tense to consider relaxing in a tepid bath, and was literally in a flap!

We made sure the external door was open and the internal door locked and left the little bird to its own devices, hoping it would find its way out without too much stress. Meanwhile, the cats were forbidden the freedom of the conservatory.

We discovered another, larger bird on the conservatory roof. A woodpigeon had met its end there. It looks just as if it is resting. In a sense, I suppose it is. It was an odd place for it to be, far from the gutter or the apex, with no place to perch.

 We rarely find dead birds and it’s sad to see something that was once so vibrant now still and lifeless.