Esther, with the broken wing

May I introduce you to a little dear...

This is Esther.

. Esther is a baby starling. Esther  was having a very GOOD day, she was just learning to fly. She was hopping about on the grass, as do all little starlings before learning to fly...

practice, practice. practice,

getting up off the ground.

Suddenly, she came upon someone  who was having a very BAD day.... Jane Black.

  Jane is raising her 7 little chickpeas and they are a rambunctious lot, it is all she can do to keep them all in a line. Little Esther came upon Jane at the wrong moment and was attacked by a protective mommy... Jane can't be blamed, she thought her babes were in danger, but she really hurt the fledgling. Esther s eye was poked, her foot was bent and her wing was broken .A mad mother hen is vicious. I was glad I was there to save her before more harm was done. I tried putting her in a bush up off the ground( it is said that the mother will hear her cry and still attempt to feed the fledglings) But she couldn't hold onto anything and kept falling off the branches .She couldn't hop and was dragging her wing. There are 5 cats in my household, need I say more?

 SO, Just for now, Esther is living here in my studio...

Esther  eats every 30 minutes throughout the day, till lights go out. Her meal consists of a scrumptious  mixture of moistened dog food, applesauce and hard boiled egg and worms, all mushed together like porridge.

She opens her mouth WIDE and I offer her the meal from a slender long stick.

 Having little Esther, reminded me of a drawing I had done many years ago, so I dug through my old artwork and found this:

 It's a bit beat up ( I used to mistreat my artwork terribly!) But I did it in 1976!

MY GOSH.....am I that old?

In the morning, Esther listens to her favorite tunes.

and memorizes all the lyrics

I have tried to make her feel right at home...

along with the other birdies.

 

 Birds are divine creatures. Doesn't everyone love birds?

She is quite an exuberant bather and takes at least 5 or 6  baths a day.

  The  water goes everywhere,

 SO I  MUST cover all important art projects!

 Since she has been here, 2 weeks now, her wing and foot have healed and she is flying beautifully! I should know, she lands on my head each time I open the studio door.
What a wonderful little muse she is as she learns to sing and chatter!

Because of her temporary dependence on me for food , she must travel with us when we exhibit at art shows.  So far she has attended 3 and is becoming quite the gadabout.

 Now that she is flying, she must learn to feed herself.

So I am setting live bugs on her little moss platform, in the hopes that instinct will take over. So far she can pick them up and carry them about, but doesn't eat them.....yet..

  I will dearly miss her when I am able to release her into the Hollow.....

 But little birds need freedom... and she gazes out the window at the wide, wide world, with longing..

 That is, when she isn't sitting on my head.

 

I love you Esther.