Leah Wilson didn’t set out to make a friend. She just couldn’t walk away from a crow trapped in a rain gutter while a panicked flock circled overhead. No one nearby had a ladder tall enough to help. So Leah did what most people wouldn’t. She walked up to a fire truck parked a few blocks away and made her pitch.
“Hey, you look like you want to save a crow today.”
They did. And so did she. Leah personally drove the injured bird to a wildlife rehabilitation center. During the ride, something happened she still can’t stop thinking about. “He latched on to my finger and held on. I will never forget that feeling.”
The crow recovered and was released back into the wild. A few days later, while walking her dog, a crow swooped down and dropped a bundle of feathers at her feet. That was the first thank-you.
Since then, Leah has received more than half a dozen gifts from crows. Sticks. Balls of moss. A tiny bird’s nest. And every morning, a flock now joins her and her dog on their walk, traveling block to block like familiar neighbors.
One bird she can always identify. He wears a small metal band on his leg from his time in rehab.
“He’s the highlight of my day,” she says.
What started as one impulsive act of compassion has turned into a daily ritual of connection. Leah says she grew up believing in the importance of a relationship with the natural world. She just didn’t know the natural world would write back.
“When we are aware of what is happening around us, there is so much potential to come together and beautiful things can happen.”
Every morning, the sky says hello to Leah Wilson.
And she says hello right back.
Comments