FROM THE EDITOR

The power of social media is astonishing. We had a long day of panic on Saturday when my daughters beloved handreared pet cockatiel got out of her cage and hit the wide blue open.

She was outside having a bit of sun on a beautiful morning, and managed to get her cage open. I have never felt so bereft or helpless as I watched her circle the house and then take off.

So we flooded Facebook and Neighbourly with pleas for sightings, and dropped flyers in letterboxes in the area. When the dark and the cold arrived in the evening, we were almost without hope.

Then the miracle happened. Someone had posted on Facebook that they’d found her, someone else had seen our post, and before long all the connections were made and Bubba was home. She’d had a wee run-in with a cat so a late night trip to the after hours vet and some antibiotics, and she’s back on her Mum’s shoulder and happy as a clam.

A clam with newly clipped wings.

– Shannon. EDITOR: Shannon Beynon, shannon.beynon@fairfaxmedia.co.nz; 027 497 3717 NEWS: Jonathan Leask; jonathan.leask@fairfaxmedia.co.nz; 03 311 8714 ; 027 403 0007; Kim Nutbrown; kimnutbrown@fairfaxmedia.co.nz; 03 311 8715; 027 807 1770; Emma Dangerfield; emma.dangerfield@fairfaxmedia.co.nz; 03 311 8710; 027 228 1851 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: 03 364 8285 ad.sales@press.co.nz CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: 03 377 8778 goclassifieds@press.co.nz OFFICE: 03 311 8702 ADDRESS: 6 Durham Street, PO Box 114, Rangiora 7400 North Canterbury’s largest circulating newspaper with 44,922 copies delivered every week.