From this window - day 2

     OK, so I'm out visiting the hubs as he pulls dead wood out of his 1/2 acre forest (I know, we chuckle, too) and decide to take a walk down the path to see what I could see.  The bleeding hearts are coming up, the mole has dug some huge tunnels, I don't see any garlic mustard but....was that a flash of yellow on the ground?  So, I look a little closer and this is what I found.  Now, mind you, we live in Central Illinois, not the parakeet mecca of the world.  I called to my husband and told him to come quickly but quietly and I heard him gasp as he crept up behind me.  A parakeet can't live in Illinois this time of year.  We will have several freezes before the weather gets this warm again so I told Carl I was going to see if I could catch him.  I approached him quietly, stooped down and put out my finger and he hopped right on it.  I wrapped him in the bottom of my T-shirt and Carl got this decorative bird cage from the gazebo and we popped him in it.

     I pounded down the inside of a couple of small cat food cans, well cleaned, and we sorted millet from our bird food using a colander, filled one with seed and one with water.  After some research on the Internet, I think it's a male because it sings and the area above the beak is pinkish purple.

 

     The cat found the bird in her window and stayed with us all afternoon.  I announced the finding of the bird on our neighborhood's facebook page but haven't gotten any response yet.  We will need to get a bigger cage if no one claims him.  He's not a parrot but I'm calling him Rio and will be very happy to keep him.  It's funny, I thought the cat would scare the bird and was ready to hang the cage where the cat couldn't get it, but the bird hopped down from the perch to the side of the cage and they stayed face to face for a long time.

I'm anxious to see what tomorrow brings.  UPDATE:  Another pair of chickadees found our northern bluebird box this morning (we also have a bluebird box on the west side of the house).  The 'resident' pair very vocally showed them the road.  It's still too early for nesting but not for protecting the home front, prime real estate is just so hard to find these days.