Mediterranean Man

Isn't life great?
Let me explain. Last Sunday my wife (Sue) came running in from the back garden shouting "Graham, there's a bird flapping in the corner of the garden hanging from its beak"!
Now I don't know about you? However, I am not the most comfortable of people around flapping birds, least of all if they are suspended from their beak! However, at the risk of being called "soft" I followed Sue and ventured out into the back garden to see what raptor had befallen hard times.
There in the corner of our garden was indeed a bird hanging from a Hawthorn hedge by its beak, flapping for all it was worth. I donned some gardening gloves and approached the stricken bird, which by now as I was close, I was able to identify as a young female balckbird. I quickly established her dilemma. wrapped around her beak and head was some plastic netting, the sort you get in garden centres for covering seeded grass or keeping birds off soft fruit. The netting had attached itself to the spiky Hawthorn hedge and the bird was syuspended unable to remove itself from this self imposed trap!
I took the blackbiird in my left hand and held her firmly so she could not flap, simultaneously raising her up so to take the weight from her beak. Sue ran inside to get some scissors and I managed to cut the plastic twine from the Hawthorn, thus releasing the young bird. I then continued to very carefuly cut and dislodge the remaining plastic twine from the the birds head, being extra careful as it was also trapped near her right eye. Finally the offending nettting had been removed and the bird was ready for release.
I placed her on the lawn and she immediately tried to fly. She no sooner took off, but crashed to earth in a very ungainly bump, with legs and wings flapping. It was heartbreaking to see the poor creature in this state. I picked her up and placed her iunder the cover of some fir trees due to the numerous predatory cats we have in and around our gareden. We left her not expecting her to move. I considered taking a spade and doing the couragous thing, but being a coward I didn't! Instead I came back indoors and hoped all would be well. About 10 minutes later I saw the bird out in the centre of the lawn trying to fly. This time she was getting off the gound but again crash landing with her head hanging low! She was a pitiful sight. I went back outside to see if I could encourage her to me with bread with a view to capturing her to place her in a cardboard box for safety and take her to the Vets on Monday! As I approached she took off and flew (well sort of) and once again crahs landed this time into our monbretia on the rockery which I felt was safe environment and as good as any box! Equally I couldn't see her, so likely no cat could either.
Each day I have kept an eye out and also inspected where she was secreted in the monbretia to see if she didn't make it and then retrieve her small body. Despite a thorough search no body was discovered, which gave me hope. That said I hadn't seen the blackbird either..........
Until this evening. Whilst working on my lap top I glanced out of the window and there on the patio was a young brown female backbird with a slightly kinked neck and dishevelled feathers, feeding, hopping and when I opened the window to say "hello" flew off with no crash landing up on to our 8' fence....Isn't life great?