Goodbye, brave little blackbird
We've had this young blackbird coming into the garden all summer, and I've watched from the patio as she's grown up from a flightless chick to a fearless juvenile. Every morning she was out there, digging for worms on the lawn under the watchful eye of the three cats, who seemed to have accepted that as much as they liked to stalk her, she would always be too quick for them. Her bravery knew no bounds - there she would be pecking away at the lawn mere feet away from the cats, engrossed in her worms. I would walk over to try to shoo her away sometimes and she would wait until I was within touching distance before she flew off to a nearby tree. 'You're too friendly,' I would think, but figured her instincts would protect her. I don't know how it happened or exactly when, but it would have been some time yesterday, because last night I went to put something away in the shed and could see the youngest cat transfixed by movement near the garden light, wh...
