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A time of birth. A time of death.
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I was down in Wexford for the night, last night. I went walking up the road to see what was happening and saw my cat lying down oddly by the roadside. I thought it was weird cos he hates the road/cars and was concerned that he’d been hit. I soon saw he was lying quite happily in some leaf litter and purring loudly. He was watching some Robins that were up in the trees, creating an absolute racket. He slowly got up and strolled off. Then I saw it move.
In the leaf litter, I saw this tiny bundle. My cat had been pinning down a tiny brown chick with his back paw while watching what I think ust have been the parents. He was baiting them, holding a hostage with the intent of catching some more. I guess he just found it on the ground … he’s not been able to climb trees since he was a kitten. I reckon it must’ve fell out of the nest.
I picked it up to rescue it from the cat. It’s heartbeat was going like crazy. It was nearly as big as an adult robin, maybe a few centimetres smaller. Its eyes weren’t yet open. The parents were still going crazy. I couldn’t find a nest so my first thought was to get it back to the house and warm…. maybe a table lamp? What I’d do after that could come later. I was at the front door. I could feel it fighting me. The wings were flapping and it was trying to squeeze out of my cupped hands that contained it. Then the movement stopped. I checked. It was dead.
It was lying in my hands in the posture you can see above. I laid it on a piece of timber and took a couple of photographs. This one was always going to be b/w for me.
Sad story.
I found 2 blackbird eggs on the drive this morning. I reckoned they’d been raided by a magpie.
Nature takes no prisoners.
Beautiful photograph, very peaceful. Thanks for telling the story also, gives it some context.
I remember once doing the same when I was a kid with a dormouse that a cat we had was ‘playing’ with.
Poor thing was shivering like mad, brought it in to keep it warm and it dropped dead,
no doubt with shock.Excellent composition Aidan, and thanks for the story behind
it too. Really like your conversion too, not too contrasty and
plenty of detail. Super.Rob.
I LOOOOOOVE this shot Aidan, perfect conversion, positioning centre of the frame is perfect..and it looks so peaceful :)
Really really nice.Pete: You’re right… nature is not kind.
Mark: Thank you. I’ve had regular opportunities with mice and voles in the past thanks to the same cat. He’ll bring them back alive to the door of the house and wait for one of us to come out. Then he’ll stroll off after depositing his present. I’ve read that cats actually try to encourage us to hunt, much like a cheetah or leopard will bring back live fawns to their young. I recently did rescue and release a mouse but never thought of taking the shot. It was staying still for ages and all. Regretted it soon afterwards.
Rob: THank you. I think I had 2 or 3 goes at this edit.
Ali: Thank you, indeed! I think I only took three shots. I tried to position it just the way it was in my hands when it died. I left it on an old log that our cat often uses as a perch. Pesky ants appeared almost immediately (a minute or so while I got my gear from the car) and ruined the first shot. Second shot wasn’t a good composition and I think this was the third.
It was shot with my bottom end Sigma 70-300 in “macro” mode. I always saw this one as black and white.
Well Aidan – as mentioned nature isn’t always fluffy bunny rabbits and cute little hedgehogs.
This a great nature shot in my book and works really well with the story attached.Well shot and well presented.
Lovely image….such is the way of things.It’s very hard to stop them from dying of shock and even harder to feel their little hearts stop beating in your hand :cry:
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