BINGO!

We can add another animal to our "Wildlife Bingo" card. We never know what will make an appearance in our yard.

The Colonel was mowing the grass and called me over to see the bird that was hanging around the base of one of the smaller oak trees in our back yard. He thought it might be one of "Spanish Man's" (the neighbor behind our house) chickens.

I went inside the house to get the binoculars so that I could get a better look. I came back outside and looked at the bird from a comfortable distance (for both the bird and I). I was calling, "here, chick, chick, chick", as I brought the binoculars to my eyes.

I told The Colonel the bird was not a chicken (although it seemed to react positively to my chick, chick, chicking) and that I thought it was some kind of pigeon.

The bird did not stray from the tree the entire time The Colonel mowed the grass, causing him to cut a wide swatch around it.

When the grass was mowed (all except for that swatch) and the yard work all done, The Colonel came in to shower as I went back outside to see if the bird was still there. It was gone.

The Colonel, freshly showered, took a seat on the couch as I was looking up what kind of bird I thought our visitor was. I had an image displayed on my iPad and turned it towards The Colonel, asking him if he thought this looked like the one that was in our back yard.

He said, "I'm not sure, why don't you compare it to the one looking in the window right now."

Seems our little visitor was still with us. I do not know how it knew to come to this window in particular.

I noticed the Rock Pigeon (I had correctly identified it) had a green band on its right leg. From what letters and numbers we saw on it, the pigeon was part of the National Pigeon Association and probably banded or hatched in 2013.

We went outside to see if we could help the pigeon in any way, as it seemed to want something from us. Spud got some water for the pigeon.

It sucked the little bowl dry in seconds, so Spud had to refill the bowl. It nearly sucked the second bowl dry too. We did not have any birdseed to offer the pigeon, so Spud poured some panko bread crumbs on a paper plate and sprinkled some on the window sill. The pigeon pecked once or twice, but didn't show much interest in the crumbs.

Spud slowly inched his way closer to the pigeon. He wanted to touch the bird.

Spud finally was close enough to touch the pigeon. The Colonel and I also touched the bird.

The Rock Pigeon, I named Mr. Balboa (Rocky...get it?), was still camped out on the window sill by the time it was dark and I went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning Mr. Balboa was gone (but he left us little presents on the window sill...if you catch my meaning).

Further research on the National Pigeon Association's website made us believe that Mr. Balboa was on his way back home and was in need of some rest and water before he continued his trip. We all hoped Mr. Balboa made it home safe and sound, wherever that may be and we were happy to have been able to help him out in his time of need.