The Bird Whisperer

Kim Watter here, the other day I was riding my bike, a real bike, not the stationary one that doubles as a purse and belt holder, enjoying the morning before the summer heat set in in Phoenix. As the slight breeze with a hint of refreshing coolness danced across my skin, and the enjoyable scent of night still lingered, I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye--a baby quail running along the curb trying to jump the concrete barrier to join his family.


Poor thing. Now keep in mind that I don’t particularly like birds—long story that stems from a childhood incident…but if I didn’t intervene, Junior was going to exhaust himself, get hit by a car, or eaten. None of his options looked good. I scanned the area looking for his family, but they were long gone. This is the reason quail have so many eggs at a time. Most of them don’t survive until adulthood. But they are so cute and fluffy as they form a line and trail between momma and papa bird.

So I had a choice to make. Intervene, catch the little bugger, and take him to the local bird lady to raise, or leave him where he was. Actually, there wasn’t a choice adn I told him so. Let me tell you though, for such a small thing, this guy was quick despitemy words, but determination finally won over exhaustion. Of course getting home on my bike riding one handed, worrying if the little guy or gal was going to peck at my hand, or escape, was a challenge.

So how does this relate to writing?

A lot. Well for one, I like to use real life stories in my writing, so don’t be surprised if this incident appears in an upcoming book. For another, it demonstrates overcoming fear.

A necessary thing if an author is going to make in the publishing world today. I was not going to let the baby quail die, so I had to overcome my fear of birds for a moment. I’d say this fear is similar to how I felt when I sent out my first manuscript to an editor. I eventually got over it, just as I got through the ride back to my house carrying the baby quail in my hand. He survived and so did I.