Too young to get home

Two house martin fledglings had fallen from a height they were too young to climb back to. House martins nest under the eaves, in a cup of mud the size of a fist, and once a chick is on the ground at that age the nest might as well be a cliff. Whoever found them thought they were hurt. They went to a local vet, who did what a surgery can do for something that small, and then the gap opened: there was no way of getting them to the bird hospital on the Gower. That gap is the reason we keep a carrier in the car. We went to collect them for the drive.

When we arrived, the vets told us one of the pair had died. Two had fallen together and only one would make the rest of the journey. We put the remaining martin in the carrier and drove it to the Gower Bird Hospital, where it is being cared for and rehabilitated with the aim of going back to the air it fell from.

The miles still mattered for the bird that was left. Fuel and a free afternoon are what make a specialist transfer possible. If you can donate, you help us make that drive on the days when the news at the door is mixed.