Royalty visits...

My world around here is very much attune to the birds who live in the woods and the fields.

I know that if I hear a certain  'blip' on a window it

may mean a bird has flown into it.

Luckily most birds recover and fly away, sadly some are killed by the impact

 but once in a while they are stunned and may need a little de -stressing, a time-out of sorts.

The other morning I heard that 'blip' and sure enough there sat the tiniest of birds...

 It was a Golden Crowned Kinglet.

(both females and males have gold feathers on top of their heads

 but the male has a tuft of rusty red on his)

I picked her up and she was definitely shaken up...

Some may think not to interfere in this situation but

if you think about being injured and how your body starts to shake, that's called shock

and you will know that a warm blanket can help.

She was in shock and I was stepping in.

I just cupped her in my hands and covered her and blew some warm breaths into

 my hands to keep her body heat up...

I kept her like that for about 5 minutes and then checked on her...

She seemed a bit better but still kind of wobbly so I cupped her again and let her rest.

This can be a critical time. Sometimes at this point the bird either makes it or doesn't.

I've held a few birds who quietly die in my hands and it is never easy.

This little lady seemed like she was going to be o.k.

I checked her again and just let her sit there while I slowly took a few pictures with my other hand...

Look at these tiny feet...

...don't worry, there's nothing wrong with them.

Those little feet are sharp and meant for clinging on to tiny branches,

not sitting on flat things.

Such a magical feeling to hold a wild little thing like this...

After about 10 minutes of the two of us curiously looking at each other,

I held out my hand with her in it up to the sky and just like that she fluttered off...

These little birds spend the winters in the south and can come from places like South Carolina

and Central America.

They're one of the smallest of songbirds and some people can barely hear their song

because of it's high pitch.

They weigh in at a hefty 0.2 ounces (or 6 grams)...that's twice the weight of a hummingbird

and are only 4" from beak tip to tail tip.

I was blessed with this royal visit today and only too glad to

  help a wee lass in distress.