Is it mad to be mates with a pigeon?

[AngelasLastEgg]

I’ve been working in the same place for three years and I’ve seen a very distinctive looking pigeon (mostly white with bits of grey on him) almost every day. I really love seeing him and called him Lord Westbourne as he has an aristocratic look about him (I suspect descended from dove gentry) and he lives on the corner of Westbourne Grove. I always see him in the same three places and have shared a bit of sandwich or cake with him on many an occasion.

Then he went missing for nearly a month, I was gutted and kept looking out for him every day. Well today he’s back!! Just bobbing around as if nothing had happened. Luckily I had a little pre-wrapped Madeline in my handbag that I was able to share with him and the couple of mates he was with.

I know I probably sound unhinged (it has been said) but I really love this pigeon having a slightly rough time at the moment trying to conceive and honestly seeing him today really warmed my heart.

Anyone else notice random birds or animals and look out for them?

Please, no pigeon haters. No one say ‘flying rats’. If you don’t share the pigeon love kindly move along

I love your bonkersness OP

Will the Netflix film about the octopus make me cry? I really love octopuses....They’re so clever!

Love the story about the disable seagul and the one who visited the garden for a drink. I’m sure he went on to have a nice life.

I guess it’s possible Lord is a Lady....I’ve always been convinced he was male because I’ve never seen a male pigeon harass him by doing their sex dance like they do to lady pigeons.

I also have a pact with a magpie at home, it upset me to think he would eat the baby blue tits in the spring but knowing he would have a family to feed too I would put something meaty out on the windowsill for him. I tried to taper it off once breeding season was over but he thinks nothing of bashing the window with his beak if I’ve not put anything out. His favourite is bits of chicken

I had a Robin in my garden that I loved. My cat brought him in (dead) one day. I cried so much, I was so cross with my cat even though she's just being a cat. I think we are both bonkers.

Are you Nikola Tesla? he was madly in love with a pigeon, he was also convinced the pigeon loved him back

This is him

We have two pigeons who sit on next doors roof... she builds a nest every year and her eggs never hatch...

I call them Bob and Sheila
I have never told anyone this 😁

Well I must say he’s beautiful and definitely the same pigeon he’s strikingly unique

To the pp who said hardly any wild life in London I live about as centrally as you can get and I have helped two injured fox’s in the last few months the last one actually got up my raw iron stares and put its self outside my door I think the first one put the word out

Aw thanks for helping those foxes!!

Yes I agree, I see lots of wildlife here. Have seen green woodpeckers and treecreepers, nuthatches which are a bit unusual to see in a city and plenty of jays in Kensington gardens, lots of foxes, the usual suspects us of squirrels and mice and rats etc (outside! Although have had a mouse inside too...)

Word does get out.
I volunteer at a local wildlife rescue and guess who is the only person in our cul de sac of 8 houses who finds hedgehogs in need of help? I swear they say to their babies “if you ever find yourself in need go and sit outside number 47 looking pathetic, the lady there will know what to do”
Word is now spreading amongst the human population now too, a few months ago a lady turned up on my doorstep with a baby pigeon, she had knocked next door at first and my neighbour took one look at what she was holding and told her she needed no 47.
Your pigeon is lovely OP

We have one particular pigeon that comes to the garden who we've named Pin Head. He kept us entertained over the summer when he would meet his lady friends for a little love action on the roof. He gets a bit irritable of his water bowl isn't kept clean and topped up.

Hm2020 thank you, he is rather lovely isn’t he!

Definitely not mad.

Years ago I was living on a boat in Greece and in the evenings frequently used to sit on a bench in the marina under a streetlight to read my book.

One night a small frog came and sat next to me and reappeared on many nights after that, just sitting quietly on the bench. I called him Hoppity and have always hoped he had a long and happy life after I left.

Aww I loved the image of that little frog just chilling out in your company

There used to be a pig who lived along the road from me (rural area). I walked to and from work fairly often and she'd often come over to the fence for an ear rub (and usually follow me down the fenceline). I warned my boss that ear rubs were compulsory, and if that made me late for work then so be it (he was an animal-lover so completely understood).

The sweetest time was when I approached her hut one morning and there was no sign of her. I called out 'Good morning, Miss Piggy' not expecting anything and the next thing I knew she came runing out of her house and over to the gate to say hallo. I was so impressed!

Unfortunately she has long since been butchered and eaten, but I'll always remember her with a smile.

Well, this is the nicest thread on the internet today. Thanks OP!

My dad says he’s got a spider friend. Perhaps I don’t need to worry too much about him after all.

Does any here remember SarahStratton and Mortimer the crow?

I can't remember the exact details but she rescued "him" and he lived with her for quite a while before they discovered "he" was a "she" (subsequently renamed Morticia) and she needed more crow friends so was rehomed to a rescue centre.

I loved her stories and pictures, wonderful bird (Morticia was alright too!)

What a beautiful bird! I love pigeons too, and winters I fill my pockets with wild bird seed, and surreptitiously drop it on quieter streets in the city centre. I know they get lots of takeaway scraps there, but I like to give them something healthy too

TimeIhadaNameChange

That read like a sinister fairytale

As for you OP, and others, yes I am afraid you are a set of bird-whispering mad heads! Pigeons are petrifying 😱

I bloody love this thread. Would love to have a coffee with you all

There's a lovely park nearby with a huge population of wildfowl and pigeons. The cafe serves bird food and the pigeons are so used to people that they will land on your hand to eat the seed.

It's so calming and I love going there. I get strange looks because "pigeons are filthy etc" but hand washing and antibac gel used abundantly and so far, no pigeon diseases have befell me.

There is a blackbird at my allotment who follows me around waiting for me to dig something up so that he can rummage for worms in the loose soil. Once I realised what he was up to I spent ages digging over the ground for him and chatting to him. I haven't named him yet though.

timtam23 you have to name him now, it's the LAW (on here )

This is rather heart-warming, actually!

Ooh blackbirds are special!! Love them. We rescued one from a cat once, turned out it was the dad one, the cat had already killed the mum and two of the juveniles! There was one left who looked understandably she’ll shocked, the Dad had been trying his best to attack the cat to keep it away from the last chick and wasn’t injured. We shot the cat with a super soaker.

My mum had an old budgie birdcage and we actually strung it up in the tree with the door open and put the little chick in there, not knowing if the dad would bother with it or if it would survive. The dad was so attentive and fed it until it properly fledged, and the baby hung around, he was a boy and he found a lovely lady blackbird and nested in our garden for a few years after that. We were just kids and ‘helped’ them raise their chicks by getting them mealworms and shooting the odd cat with the super soaker. We had two rabbits in the garden then too who would chase off the cats, and the blackbirds would follow them around to see if they dug anything up for them. We all loved ‘our’ blackbirds!