Bird Dilemma

Yesterday as I was driving the lawn tractor through the apple orchard, my eyes caught a glimpse of something moving in the grass. As I turned off the mower and approached it, its little mouth opened, revealing a bright yellow orange throat...hungrily searching for its breakfast. There in the grass, all by itself was a baby bird, feathered, but unable to fly on its own; no mother in sight.Now here is the dilemma....should I leave it alone and risk the probability that some hungry predator would find it, or pick it up and place it back in its nest? For about 5 minutes I stood there talking to it...trying to decide the best course of action. I knew that I could not adequately care for this bird, so it seemed that placing it back in its nest was the best option. I scooped up my little charge and headed back to the house in search of a ladder.

With ladder in hand, we headed back to the orchard. Luckily, I had found the bird on the ground directly beneath a nest in the apple tree above. So, to that nest I returned my feathered friend.

I am hoping that I did the right thing....and that its mother will return and care for it until it is big enough to survive on its own.