Back in Bandung
We got back to Bandung at about 5pm Wednesday. It took about 34 hours from the time we left my Dad and Judy’s house until we arrive at our home in Bandung. We did a little unpacking then went out for a bite to eat and to grab some quick groceries to get us by. We were so exhausted that we went to sleep at 7:30, and slept until 7 the next morning. Man, I needed that.
Yesterday I was on my balcony looking at my plants and planning to do some gardening when I saw a black blur out of the corner of my eye, and heard something crash into the bushes across the road from our house. I looked down to see a beautiful bird sitting on the ground at the side of the road. It was stunned, and didn’t react to passing motorcycles or people. Me, being the bird nerd that I am, went inside to grab my Indonesia Birds book to identify it. It was a Banded Pitta, a native to Javan forests, but shy and rarely seen in the wild. I called my friend Jim, who’s an avid bird watcher, and asked what he thought I should do. I got a box and poked some holes in it and carefully went over to pick up the bird and put it in the box. At first it didn’t do anything, then after a few seconds it tried to flap its wings a bit but gave up. I put it in the box with a little dish of water and took it inside. The poor thing was so weak it couldn’t even stand up. I put it in a dark room and checked on it a few hours later. He was standing up sleeping, with his head tucked back like a duck. He seems to be getting better, and Jim said it’s possible that he was a pet bird that escaped and flew until he was too exhausted to fly anymore. Jim has friends in a bird conservation group here, and he’s trying to see if we can give the bird to them to have him released back into the wild. For now he’s still in the box, and I’ve been trying to feed him slugs and ants. Apparently their favorite food is snails and worms, but unfortunately I don’t have any of those around the house…
Hopefully the little bird will continue to get stronger, and he can have a long life running and flying around the forests of Indonesia, not living in a box or cage in the city.
Here’s a photo of a Banded Pitta, if you’re curious what he looks like.
