Scott Bechtel is a local wildlife photographer and member of the Rieck Center. He spent countless hours over the last two winters photographing birds at the Rieck Center…even on our coldest and snowiest days. He shared this story about his recent rescue of a goldfinch:
Last winter on one of the below 0 days I arrived early and found little gold finch wings spread buried partially in the snow. I was sure he was dead, but as I looked at him, his eye moved. I picked him up in my gloves, folded up his wings and held him for about 20 minutes. He started to come around and warm up. I took him to my car and made a nest from fleece jacket I had and placed him in it. I left him there for awhile and photographed for a little while. I came back and lifted the tailgate and he was standing on the edge of the fleece (and pooped on it of course!). He flew up to the arm of the tailgate and sat there for about 5 minutes and then flew off to the feeder area. It was a good feeling!
You can check out Scott’s photographs below or visit his album on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmefxCSG
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