Luna the Budgie Was Expected to Go Up. She Went Down a Drain Instead.

Luna, an 11-month-old pet budgie, is back with her owner, Cimberley Frost, in Northampton, England. She escaped when winds after Storm Boelo blew open a window. A passing driver saw her hop into a roadside drain about a mile from home. RSPCA officers lifted her out on Oct. 26, and days later an RSPCA officer returned her to Frost.¹²

Luna got out when strong winds following Storm Boelo forced open a window in Frost’s flat.³ Birds are generally expected to go up. Luna went down.

A motorist driving past saw her hop into a drain at the side of the road and called the RSPCA.² By then she was about a mile (1.6 km) from home.⁴

“Luna hadn’t gone far when we believe she must have been frightened by something and she hopped down into a drain to hide,” RSPCA Inspector Richard Durant said in the RSPCA’s release.¹

A trainee’s first rescue

Durant went out on Monday, Oct. 26, with Trainee Animal Rescue Officer Rosie Cowie. Cowie reached into the drain, took hold of Luna and put her in a pet carrier. It was Cowie’s first rescue.¹⁵

“We peered down the drain and there was Luna’s little beak peeking out from a pipe,” Cowie said in the release.¹ Luna went into RSPCA care.¹

How Luna got home

Meanwhile, Frost’s family had been searching outside. They played budgie noises and left the window open, but without success.²

So Frost posted about Luna on social media. Someone told her they had heard the RSPCA had picked up a budgie nearby. Frost got in touch with the RSPCA, and officer Ellie Grindod reunited her with Luna.¹²

“The house was so quiet without her; she’s always squeaking and talking,” Frost said in the release.¹

Luna shares her home with the family dog, Ziggy, and Frost posts the pair’s adventures on social media.⁴

“It’s her first adventure, and hopefully her last!” Frost said in the release.¹