What's to forgive?
You acted in good faith, seeking help, using the best information available to you at the time. At ten, your Dad is still the all-knowing fount of wisdom; and it's not fair to yourself to judge your actions at that age by your current knowledge and abilities. Please consider that what we feel guilty about, and what we actually do wrong, are not always the same.

I'd say it's possible that the bird didn't make it, but not certain. Keep in mind that shelters don't just function 9-5; so how could you know if, for example, two minutes after you left, someone had turned up for their scheduled visit to check on the animals; found little birdie, and brought it in?

Even if it stayed on the step until morning (I assume it was mild springtime, not freezing midwinter), it had downy feathers (which are optimised for maximum warmth, not flight) and a box to keep the wind off: Surviving overnight was plausible (the other blackbird chicks don't get fed at night either, and they do allright).

Supposing it didn't survive, it's not as bad as it could have been: The sad fact is that a lot of chicks simply don't survive to adulthood, but at least this one had the opportunity of passing on relatively pleasantly, compared to the unpleasant liklihood of a cat getting it if you'd done nothing and left it exposed.

Additionally, I understand that sometimes chicks are injured by the fall anyway, and no practical level of intervention on your part could save them.

Finally; how many birds do you think have been helped by each feeder item you've hung out? It sounds to me like you've already earned redemption from whatever slight error you might have committed.

(Ihis ill-structured argument brought to you by Insomnia.)
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 1:08, 1 reply)

Awwwww, thanks.
This does make me feel ever-so slightly better. You're right, I don't know for sure that I did kill it. It also is kind of my Dad's fault. No 'Our Fathers' for me then!

(This reply also brought to you by insomnia- no doubt a result of some deep-seated childhood trauma and guilt...)
(Bob Frapples is de-lurking on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 1:36, closed)