The Pigeon Chronicles

Wed night we did a lot of Google research on homing pigeons and racing pigeons ... and found a way to track Gilbert's owner. I wished that we had caged him Wed night when we had the chance, thinking that would be easier to call the owner and tell him we had the bird ... not just that we saw the bird.

Thurs morning about 6:30am I was heading downstairs to the kitchen, and as I walked by the front door I heard a noise that was loud enough to stop me in my tracks ... a scratching and fluttering noise, coming from around the front door. I thought "no way" and opened the door ... and sure enough, there was Gilbert fluttering at the front glass storm door as if he wanted to come in! So we grabbed him and put him in an old cage we had, knowing he was safe and sound for the day.

I did track down the owner on Thurs morning, and he lives in Downers Grove, IL. He had taken 20 of his birds to DeWitt, IA on Sun for a 150 mile race. There was a strong head wind that pushed the birds to the South, and only 6 of his 20 birds made it home. He said he'd very much like to have the bird back, and asked how far away we were. When he realized it would be a 5 hour round trip to pick him up ... he asked if I would mind feeding him for a couple more days to build his strength, and then release him on Sat so he would fly home on his own. I said we'd give it a try, and he was very appreciative to know someone was caring for the bird.

Last night Drew was putting in some new food/water ... and Gilbert grabbed the chance to fly the coop when the door was open! He flew up to the roof and sat there for a couple of hours, and then flew off about 7pm. We hoped he was strong enough to make it home!

So this morning (Fri) there was no Gilbert at the front door. We thought he must be trying to make his way home. And then about 7am our dog started barking and I couldn't figure out why ... and there was Gilbert sitting on the table on our deck! We left the cage with food/water out on it overnight in case he came back, and he was having a little breakfast. HA He won't let us get close enough to him to put him back in the cage (smart guy) but is now roosting on the trellis above the hot tub. So the saga continues!