A Bird In The Hand

So I was standing in the kitchen when I saw a thing hit the window with a rather loud THUMP. I went outside, of course, and looked around down below the window - which because the "ground floor" our house two stories at the back while being only one at the front -meant it was rather a long way down for whoever fell. I found a white-breasted nuthatch lying there on its side, with its mouth open. Uh oh. So I picked him/her up and held her for a bit and s/he seemed to be substantially okay. Eyes blinking, feet gripping, but mouth still open. I took him/her through the house and we sat on the front porch for a bit and I opened up my hand so s/he could feel less stressed about being in someone's hand. S/he sort of sat up and crouched there for quite a while. Eventually s/he closed his/her mouth and just started looking around. Occasionally looking up at me, and then looking around at the scene. Finally, after we'd sat there for quite a while, s/he said "onk" (you have to have heard a nuthatch to know what I'm trying to mean by that sound) and took off! Flew over to the trunk of the oak tree in front of us and held on there upside down, as they do, and then flew off altogether.

I'm glad we got to have that time together. And that s/he was okay.