I should have.

Tough situation to be in and sorry you were in it... should you have done something... no.

You're out in the field as an observer... sure you want to see all the pretty and pleasant things out there but every now and again what you will observe is that nature is not pretty and it is not pleasant for the vast majority of animals.

Look at this from an extreme opposite point of view... less than 10% of the large wading bird hatchlings will survive to adulthood... you happen upon a rookery of three breeding pairs... those three breeding pairs have 10 hatchlings between them... statistically only one of the hatchlings is going to survive... should you do "something" to nine of those hatchlings because you can stave off or ease what is certainly going to be a gruesome outcome?

None of the cold hard facts of course will ease what you think you should have done but keep in mind that scenarios such as the one you witnessed are going on right now in your own back yard... you simply aren't there to witness it... are you going to beat yourself up over that?

Whatever happened to that bird, somewhere, something is benefiting from it... just the way it works whether you're there to bear witness or not.

Gerry

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