One That Got Away

I heard someone hit the sliding glass door. Even though we have 'bird safe' decals on all our glass, they still occasionally fly into it. It doesn't happen often. When it does the 'victim' is usually just stunned and flies off after a brief recovery. I didn't see this Mourning Dove actually hit the door but did see the large hawk that was chasing it veer off at the last second. The Hawk didn't connect with the dove or the door and flew off. I rushed out and picked up the unconscious bird. It was still breathing but convulsing, most likely in shock. I saw no sign of blood or obviously broken bones so I just held it close to my body to keep it warm and quiet as it came to. We sat that way for twenty minutes or so and when the bird's convulsions stopped I place it on the ground under some plants so that it was not easily spotted by another predator. I returned 30 or so minutes later to check on the dove. It was awake and alert so I picked it up and took it to an open area in the yard. When I opened my hands she flew off. I wish I could say that she looked back at me, but no, that didn't happen. I would have loved to have gotten a photo of the hawk avoiding the glass door and flying off, but that didn't happen either.