Birdman of Santa Margarita

It was a known fact in Bakersfield that my spouse, Melvin, was an artist in the courtroom. He could pick a jury with incredible insight and present a case that insulted no one. He won alot.

It was a known fact that when we were in Las Vegas, the same spouse (that doesn't sound right...but you know what I mean..) could cajole a slot machine into spewing its guts just like a cop on cross examination. We almost always came home even.

What no one knew (and we thought it was just a fluke) was that birds LIKED him. We saw this for the first time in Bakersfield. He found a baby bird in our backyard that had fallen from the nest. Momma was going nuts. Mel walked up and picked up the baby. We put it on our balcony with water and in a nest in a hubcap. It drank some water and chirped. We left and, from a distance, watched Momma come in and teach the baby to fly.

The following year, at about the same time, a bird of the same species, flew into our garage. Mel was sitting at his work bench and the bird flew right up to him, stayed a few minutes and then flew out. We had lots of baby birds in the backyard trees that year.

So we are suspicious of Mel's bird attraction.

There were at least 3 other incidents where birds would come up to him but none of them were like today.

Mel is sitting on the porch (like he does)

Only he is on his laptop playing poker. And a little finch flies up and jumps up on his finger. It stays there for a few seconds and flies away. Mel didn't flinch and neither did the finch.

When I get home, Mel discovers a little baby finch that has apparently hit the window. The bird is sitting on the porch railing and does not fly away or even move when Mel approached. The bird let Mel pick it up.

He puts the bird in one of our planter oak barrels, gives it some water and some bird seed and backs off. The bird stays curled up against the side of the barrel for awhile then begins to eat and drink. Mel is sitting on the porch about 15 yards away.

The bird, after a little while, begins to fly in short hops. And when he is flying well, the bird flies over to the porch and lands in Mel's LAP! Then it stays in Mel's hand and let's me take this picture from less than a foot away!

Just hangin' out with the birds.

Yup, Birdman of Santa Margarita!