Mistake one: Coming in to feed Fern and Alex from the outside, I shut the flight door behind me. Alex flew at top speed toward the flight door, crashed into it, the bolt gave way and he burst through into freedom.
Mistake two: When I returned, Fern had squeezed out of an unbelievably tiny gap in the wire crate. Neither birds in sight. I was lucky and so were they because September 28th was the start of the Indian summer.