This episode’s vocabulary
Amateur
adj. — taking part in an activity for pleasure, not as a job.
Song thrush
noun — a type of thrush.
Thrush
noun — a brown bird with a pale breast with spots on it that is known for its singing.
To limp
verb — to walk slowly and with difficulty because of having an injured or painful leg or foot.
To lumber
verb — to move slowly and awkwardly.
Crucial
adj. — extremely important or necessary.
Non-starter
noun — an idea, plan, or person with no chance of success.
Thrilled
adj. — extremely happy about something.
Memorable
adj. — likely to be remembered or worth remembering.
Questions and answers
Rory, give us your story.
Well, a really long time ago, I remember I rescued an injured bird with my cousin when we were staying with my grandmother. This must have been around 25 years ago. So like in the 1990s when we were young kids. We spent the night there like we usually did and we're playing in the garden in the day when we came across this injured bird, and I was something of an amateur birdwatcher, I noticed it was a song thrush. It was unable to fly, but not limping. So we thought it must have broken its wings somehow. Otherwise, it would have flown off as two kids were lumbering towards it. We found a box for him to take shelter in and kept him warm, dry and well-fed. I think that was pretty crucial since there were a lot of cats in the local neighbourhood. When our parents picked us up at the end of the day, it was decided the bird would come home with my parents who would call the RSPB. It's like an organization that helps out injured wildlife in Britain. There wasn't much point in trying to tend to the injury ourselves. Because we weren't vets, I still have absolutely no idea about bird biology or anatomy, to be honest with you. So that was a bit of a non-starter. Like I said, I was with my cousin, but she didn't seem particularly bothered that it was coming. Like the bird was coming home with me. I was thrilled on the other hand, it was nice to be able to help something out that, well, needed help, to be honest. If I hadn't done this, I still think I would have had the joy of another weekend at my granny's place. But it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. I mean, how often something like that happened when you were a child? I can't imagine that it's a very frequent occurrence. So yeah, overall, pretty, well, not necessarily formative, but definitely something worth telling my own grandchildren about one day.
And have you told your friends about this story?
I can't remember, to be honest. I don't think I have.