In complete contrast to the Pheasant and Blackbird above, this desperately unhappy little Chaffinch has had a thoroughly miserable time over the past few weeks….His problems began back in February when he broke his left leg really badly somehow (possibly on one of those lethal little net bags that people put balls of suet in and hang out for the birds, but which snag their claws as they fly away)! I’ve fixed broken legs on lots of birds, soI tried to catch him with a bamboo frame net. He was always far too canny however (although I could have caught just about everything else in the garden including the dogs four times!).He struggled on though, until he lost the leg altogether….It must have been so painful and bewildering for the little scrap! On the plus side, he seemed to avoid any major infection and is obviously learning to cope with his disability. He is totally unable to perch properly and can only manage an awkward sort of squat. He has great difficulty moving about on the ground where Chaffinches usually like to forage about under the feeders and he uses up far too much energy flapping his wings furiously to keep his balance! I put sunflower hearts (which he loves) in the blue feeder especially for him and, despite not being able to perch on the thing for even a moment, he has learnt (quite cleverly for a finch) to fly into it, causing a few sunflower hearts to fall to the ground each time, whereupon he swoops down and eats them up before other birds realize! A true example of adapting to overcome!Saddest of all is that Spring must be stirring his loins as much as all the other birds, but the hen Chaffinches will have either nothing to do with him or are very aggressive towards him! I took the three pictures above on 1st April, 2006 just after he’d been attacked by a particularly unforgiving hen Chaffinch that he’d been doing his best to impress all afternoon! I can honestly say that, in all my dealings with animals of all kinds over the years, I have never seen such unhappiness and dejection etched into the face of a bird….and yes, I may be 6 feet 3 inches tall, weigh 16.5 stone and was even a Royal Marine once upon a time ago, but that plucky little bird breaks my bl**dy heart!

“Scraps” Update 8th May, 0820hrs….It would appear that “Scraps” has acquired something of a fan club! I’ve received e-mails from a number of people expressing concern for the little fella and all wanting some sort of progress report with regard to both his health and his love-life….Well, I can assure everyone that, despite a growing dependence on hand-outs from me, “Scraps” seems to be glowing with health and is currently (as I type this update) sheltering from a fairly heavy downpour up on the roof of one of the Blue Tit nest-boxes placed in the newly foliaged ash trees. As for his love-life, I’m afraid that he still appears to be “single”, but then, if an article in one of my wife’s health and fitness magazines is to be believed, he might be better off, as an estimated 90% of unhappiness in the UK is apparently caused by “relationships”! (How the heck do you work something like that out?).I’d just like to say thank-you to all those who have taken the plight of this little Chaffinch to your hearts, but, as is often the case with anyone who suffers a physical disability (including people….especially people in fact), it tends to be their strength of character and a fierce determination to simply get on with their lives that really sets them apart and not the disability itself! For that, they deserve respect and not pity.“Scraps” will survive or succumb depending on a combination of luck, his ability to adapt to his situation and the strength of his inner resolve. Most birds (of any species) would not survive something as catastrophic as the loss of a limb, but for whatever reason, “Scraps” did survive, but must continue to adapt on a daily basis. He survived one winter (miraculously) and can now look forward (hopefully) to a more plentiful Summer. His worse days should be behind him physically, but whose to say what emotional struggles he must still overcome….His search for a mate and his failure to find one (so far) may well be something even harder to endure than anything he’s been through to date. Who can guess what goes on in the mind of a Chaffinch.? My guess is though, that “Scraps” will overcome whatever the great crap-hole of life will choose to dump on him and that he’ll be around for a little while yet at least!