Pigeons and Regina Spektor

Kudos and huzzahs to me for posting furiously for 3 days and then forgetting about it again.

This past weekend, I didn't see Blonde Redhead (rained out), but I did see Regina Spektor. She was great, but it was rainy, and I was distracted.

On Friday afternoon, before the Regina Spektor show, I was on my way to the venue (McCarren Park Pool), walking on the sidewalk, when I saw a pigeon flailing around, with a clearly injured wing. Unsure of what to do, I picked him up off the sidewalk and put him under a nearby tree. It was pretty obvious, however, that he was extremely vulnerable. Since I'm no pigeon expert, I couldn't determine his overall health, age, or whatever, but I could see that if I left him there, it was unlikely that he'd survive the afternoon. I called a number of vets and animal hospitals, but it was late in the afternoon and no one would be willing to actually come out there to pick up the pigeon.

Thankfully, there was a lady there with a kind heart and a cat carrier - I packed him up with a towel in the carrier and Jackie came out there to pick him up and take him home to our apartment. I was then free to go to the concert. Review to follow (maybe).

To make a long story short, the pigeon passed a restful night in the cat carrier, and we took him to a bird rehabilitator in Manhattan, where we learned that he was very young and healthy, with no diseases. The wing injury was actually the result of a congenital vitamin B12 deficiency that had left his left leg partially paralyzed - when grounded, he had to pull himself around using his wings, and had subsequently injured one of them (not broken it though, which is what I was afraid of). She gave him a vitamin injection, and he should be good as new in a day or so. Once his wing has healed a bit and he's able to fly, I'm going to go pick him up and release him back where I found him (since that's presumably where he's from). Hopefully, he's got a long, successful pigeon-y life ahead of him.

All in all, a happy ending.