So... It's been a long time since I had the wild bird living with me. People have asked me to write about it so much that as the 2023 is coming to an end, it's another thing to get done with to tell the story!
I was cooking at the kitchen in my Tartu flat when I heard the jackdaws making a lot of noise in early summer of 2022. Looking out, I saw a cat trying to catch the bird who couldn't yet take off and the other birds trying to scare the cat away. The cat didn't care. I tried to make some noise on the window, too, but then, ran barefoot downstairs and made the cat runaway myself; just to wait a few minutes to discover the cat came back from another side.
Having checked that the birds were totally fine with me getting closer to their non-flying comrade, I picked it up and discovered the bird was injured as well and couldn't fly anyway, so I put it inside my dress and brought it up. The kids were amazed :)
Then, I am skipping a big part, but the story went so that it came to life and learnt to fly, but didn't want to leave. I was walking with it outside and it took off very close sometimes, but landed on my head again. We went to look for other jackdaws and left the bird on a tree, just to discover 4 hours later it was still on the same tree. We tried to make him friends with city jackdaws and country ones, but no trial worked.
I gave it a name - Karma. And it was a great wasp catcher. During one summer, it was able to save me from 8 wasps that had entered the flat! Only my kids didn't like him picking their socks away all the time and the books didn't like being torn. Everything that was possible to make shreds of, became this if not put away. So when I was working at the computer, it wanted to learn to write on it; when I was using the guitar, it needed to be closest to the strings, ...not to talk about painting. And when sleeping, it woke people up with first light in a cute way of picking bellybutton and ears and nostrils.
It had its cage too, but it was used only when utmost necessary, like when I was away for a few hours, it had to be used for safety. Karma happened to be with us during Klaaspärlimäng / Glasperlenspiel festival when I was painting every night two concerts for a week straight, so when I was arriving back home at 1 pm or so and it had been in a cage, I let him out to offer some joint adventures and he fell asleep on the same pillow as me :) And the whole night it was like that...
In any case, Karma was a wild bird and sometimes I raised it on the terrace to live it's wild life, bringing me insects (spider legs etc) for breakfast when it was a great closure of us, but sometimes it was really stressed and picked on everything and I couldn't work, so I just let him outside (that means, fiercely and forcely with gloves just basically throwed it outside!) and then he was furiously knocking on the door/window.........wanting to get inside.
Finally, it was the end of summer or even early autumn and after many trials, I was tired of not being able to sleep even for one night away (because he needed somebody next to him, they are so social) and collecting his poop that arrived after every 10 minutes everywhere, that I decided it was time for him to leave. Join other jackdaws or just find its life, because a flat life is not a correct way for a wild beast, even if it's become the spiritual bird living next to you. But as life happens, if the circumstances were perfect and we'd be living in a countryside, why not, but in a city flat - that's not the solution.
So when it was walking on the boarder of opened window again (as it was mostly open) and saw another insect that he wanted, I closed the window and this time, didn't hear him making noise as of being stuck somewhere. (Sometimes he went and then, started making noise on the other balcony, on the roof or somewhere - as of a vocal sign to me.) It was silent after a few days of being more nervious than usual inside.
I have no idea what happened, but I hope all happened as it was supposed to be. In any case, it was a once in a lifetime experience, whether it happens again or not. Best things happen if they just come, not when you plan, because as with such birds/things/animals, I don't find it even correct one can "own" a soul unless being chosen by them........
Love forever.
And inspiration.
As Birds have sent me everywhere. Egyptian goddesses, bird heads, wild birds I've become friends with in every town and every appartement I've lived in... Seagulls, ...and such.
