Lost budgie's 'miracle' return inspires colouring book
Jazz and Jolly are two budgies who live like lovebirds and inspire their owner to sing.
“They were sitting there kissing each other in the mirror,” David smiles, referring to a video that shows him serenading the smooching Jazz and Jolly. “So I thought, this calls for a song.”
David pulled out his guitar and adjusted a Bob Marley classic to suit the occasion. Instead of the words “don’t worry ‘bout a thing,” he sang “kiss your honey every day.”
David’s wife Junie — who recorded the song on her phone — says Jazz and Jolly were constantly canoodling.
“You couldn’t even get a toothpick between them from the very beginning,” Junie smiles. “They just gravitated to each other.”
The budgies were inseparable. Until the day they suddenly weren’t.
“[Jazz] was gone! Zoom!” David’s recalls, stretching out his arms like the bird’s wings. “She almost flew sideways out the door to get through the crack.”
Jazz was missing. Junie and David were devastated
“Oh my God!” Junie recalls thinking. “How are we going to get her?”
They searched the neighbourhood for Jazz. When the bird didn’t return their calls, they placed a portable speaker on their deck playing a recording of Jolly chirping.
“Jolly was not so jolly,” Junie says. The bird would perch on a window seemingly looking out for his beloved. “Jolly was bereft.”
While Jolly mourned, Junie and David posted missing posters provided by ROAM, a local animal rescue.
“Inside I was going, ‘I don’t think there’s much chance of us seeing this budgie,’” David admits.
Davis was right. After five days, there was no sign of Jazz. And then Junie got a call.
“What? How is that possible?” Junie recalls saying when she was told a budgie had been found that looked similar to Jazz in a different municipality. “I’ll be right there!”
Junie was told a bird was found on the other side of the Victoria harbour from their James Bay home on the ground of the Esquimalt water park. It was Jazz.
“She flew across the ocean! A little bird with all of the predators and inclement weather,” Junie says, adding that after being treated by a vet and convalescing at home, Jazz fully recovered. “It was a miracle.”
“And Jolly was overjoyed,” David smiles. “His sweetheart was back!”
Junie and David were inspired. She started writing and he began drawing.
Now the couple have published a colouring book based on the budgie’s story of getting lost and being found, titled Jazzy’s Miracle Mission.
“I hope it inspires people to keep faith alive,” Junie smiles.
“No matter how things are looking,” David adds. “There’s always hope.”
Which brings us back to that video of the budgies kissing and David singing, “‘Cause every little thing, gonna be alright.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.