Launch pad...

Russell crow fell out of his nest sixteen days ago, and I rescued him from the middle of the spiky bush where he'd landed. Since then we've tended to his every need - initially feeding him with mealworms and dog food, and then encouraging hime to feed himself, and allowing him to practice flying round our house.

Recently he has been spending the day outside in an aviary in the garden, which allowed him to familiarise himself with all the gardens sights and sounds. He was also able to make contact with his parents, who have occupied the garden for the last three years.

We'd enjoyed his company, but over the last couple of days we could sense he was getting bored and wanted to stretch his wings. Much like teenagers get at a certain age... So today, after an hour or two in the aviary we released him into the big wide world.

He flew off from Pete's shoulders and landed somewhat precariously on the conifers at the end of the garden. He found it much more difficult to perch on the swaying branches than he had on the shelves and chair-backs he'd been using inside - and there was also a stiff breeze to contend with. After eating a feather he found, he flew up into the apple tree where he sat for some time.

We left him alone, in the hope that his parents would come. I went out a little later to find him gone. I then saw one of the parent crows fly to a neighbour's pine, a moment later followed by Russell, who had managed to get himself into a higher conifer. We haven't definitely seen him since, though we did catch sight of a crow landing in a nearby tree in a most ungainly fashion - probably Russell!