Storm Clean-Up Leads To ‘Tweet’ Rescue In Dover-Foxcroft Driveway

While almost everyone in the state had one mother of a clean-up following the storm that blew through Maine Sunday night, there was one man in Dover-Foxcroft who got a wee, little gift in the midst of all that snow removal.

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To set the scene, Bill Siemerling was out, as most of us were, on Monday afternoon, getting ready to snow-blow his driveway. Having been to Siemerling's Dover-Foxcroft home a time or two, I can tell you, it's a long driveway, and it was most certainly a daunting task that lay ahead of him.

But according to Bill, his attempt to clear that snow was cut short.

"I had made one pass down the driveway and was coming back when the snow thrower broke, so about 20 minutes."

It would seem that his efforts were cut short with good reason; he was about to become a hero to one teeny, tiny bird.

"When I went down the driveway there was nothing dark in the snow. On the way back it struck me odd that there was now a dark spot. I went over to see what it was and realized it was a bird. I carefully picked it up and it just walked up my arm."

"I picked it up and it walked up my sleeve and sat on my shoulder until I got to the house."

Having instantly become something akin to a real-life Dr. Doolittle of sorts, Siemerling, a dad to a handful of curious kids, hollered up to the house to share the news.

"The kids were inside, and I called them down (they thought they were in trouble). It took them a minute to realize what they were seeing. The kids grabbed the bird food just in case it was hungry."

The birdie, however hungry, didn't seem interested in parting with its newfound protector.

"It had to be physically removed from me. Whoever removed it then had the pleasure of it walking all over them."

The bird made its way atop one of his daughter's heads, pretty quickly, much to everyone's amusement.

"It climbed Khloe's hair."

Next, it ventured onto daughter Lizzie's arm. The girls named the bird Raptor.

At first, they thought the bird to be a chickadee, but later determined it was a red-breasted nuthatch. It made no attempt to leave the family but instead made itself quite at home.

Siemerling called Avian Haven, a Maine-based bird sanctuary, and explained the situation. They mentioned that the bird could have been caught up in the sudden change from warm temps to cold. They suggested putting the bird in a box with some food overnight and seeing if it would fly off on its own in the morning.

So that's what they did with little "Raptor."

The next day, the bird happily flew away. Siemerling says this wasn't the first time he's had an up-close and personal encounter with a winged creature.

"When I was a kid a crow lived with us for a few months for some reason. It also sat on my father's shoulder, drank his beer, sharpened its beak on sandpaper, etc. Then one day it just flew off."

Some people have all the luck! So, as much as we gripe and groan about the weather and Mother Nature...sometimes there are cool little experiences to be had if we just take the time to look around for them.