by Sr. Noeleen Mooney MMM                       Ireland                  02.04. 2025

Alan, who looks after us in so many ways, was the one who found it, and brought me to see it. A pigeon, perched on the lid of a large bin outside the kitchen – just out of reach.

It was alert and bright-eyed but seemed reluctant to move and was standing on one leg. “What’s wrong with the other leg?”, we pondered.
My only “bird” contact was Gerard, and he only dealt with seagulls! But I rang him and he was most helpful. “Yes”, he said, “there is a man who keeps pigeons right across the road from you – and he gave me the street name. He also gave me his surname.

I set out, not knowing where to look in the maze of houses there. I prayed that I would see someone going in or out of a house that I could ask. It worked!

A car drove past and turned into a driveway. A lady got out with a small girl behind her. I approached her and asked about the man who looks after pigeons. Her face broke out into a big smile!

“Yes”, she said, “It is David, and he lives three doors down. I will come with you. I saw him ten minutes ago.”
We went together to a door which brought us into a beautiful garden with a pigeon house at the side. We explained our reason for coming and without hesitation, David came with me to see our pigeon.

He caught it expertly in his hands. His leg seemed unharmed, but he did say that it hadn’t eaten for some days, as he could feel the bones along its chest. He took it to join his pigeon family and fed him for a few days.

Thank you, David, “pigeon man”, and Alan who alerted us.