We're Grandparents!

     Everytime I remember the day I said those two words to my mother two years ago I can't help but laugh. Mom's reaction was priceless. Even though she had visited us just a couple of days earlier and had clearly seen that there was no way our young daughter was pregnant, Mom just said "Is there something you forgot to tell me?" She said it in a perfectly calm voice. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn't aware that I was talking about us being grandparents to baby birds.
     Birdman and I think of our flock as family members. I know, we're weird that way. Some of our Zebra
Finches had chicks that had just hatched. Birdman discovered this while I was on the phone talking to Mom. So of course when he told me I was extremely excited. These were the first babies any of our flock had had. In my excitement I just blurted out the first words that came to my mind. These words were "We're grandparents!"

     Since then several of our other birds have made us "grandparents" also. Birdman and I have been teased quite a bit for carrying pictures of the baby birds in our wallets the way other people carry pictures of their grandchildren. We don't mind. We are quite content to only have bird grandchildren for quite awhile yet.

Your Hair Is Such A Bird's Nest!

Have you ever heard of the expression "Your hair is such a rat's nest"? Growing up it was a term used alot by my grandmother to describe the knots that I would get in  my hair.  I did brush my long hair daily, just not always as good as I should have.  I hated those knots!

Well, our daughter had to take that expression to a whole new level with a little help from Rebel.  Rebel was one of our parrotlets. He had a very unusual habit.  He enjoyed being out of his cage and socializing with Darling and us.  When Rebel would want to bond with one of us, he would come to our shoulder. Once there he would slowly work his way up until he was sitting on top of your head. Of course, even in that Rebel had to be a rebel in how he accomplished that.  First he would sneak under your hair and start nuzzling your ear.  As soon as he was sure that you weren't going to do anything he would begin the climb under your hair.  Rebel would use his beak to grab sections of your hair and use them as a rope climber would.  Periodically, Rebel would peek out to see how much progress he had made.  When he got to the top, he'd come out from under your hair and just sit there.  The longest any of us tolerated him on our head was an hour. (I was in the middle of an excellent book.)

We would tease our daughter by saying, "Your hair is such a bird's nest" because of his second habit.  When Rebel got tired or overloaded but refused to go into his cage, he would go over to our daughter.  She has beautiful long, curly hair that she usually has pulled back into a half bun, halfpony tail. Rebel loved this hairstyle.  Instead of climbing to the top of her head, he would work his way to the back. Once there he would work his way into the very center of it.  Because of the thickness of her hair he could totally disappear in it.  Sometimes when she walked by we'd just see him barely peaking out. 

Angel Wings

     This afternoon Birdman and I were sad to discover that one of our lovebirds passed away. Even though we have such a large flock, it is always hard to lose one of them. It was a peachfaced lovebird that we have had for several years.

     As I was walking over to the aviary to help Birdman with removing the body, Angel Wings came running up to me.  Angel Wings is one of the female ducks that has adopted us. Since the beginning she has been shy and timid around us.  Just this past week though, she has been coming to the front of the group at feeding time.  She likes to jump in the air and spread her wings when I feed her. That is why I call her Angel Wings. Well, today she ran right up to me and stopped within a foot of me.  She tilted her head as if to say she was sorry about the lovebird's passing. What she did next totally shocked me.  Angel Wings allowed me to pet her! What a wonderful gift she gave me at a time that I really needed it.
     When I continued over to the aviary, she followed me. Birdman tried to pet her but she ran away. After we took care of cleaning the one aviary Birdman began feeding our flock. All the ducks came over towards him but wouldn't take the seeds from his hand. Which really isn't surprising since we have never tried to have them eat from our hands before. I decided to see if I would have better luck. Birdman put the seeds into my palm, I called to Angel Wings and she raced over. She looked at the seeds, looked at me and then began eating from my hand. I was totally amazed and pleased. When she finished I did our hand motion letting her know that there was no more food. She looked at me, and then came up and put her beak up against the back of my hand as if kissing it. Then she continued on with her normal duck day.

No Fishing Allowed!

     I am quite proud of our backyard pond. It has taken me nine years to get the pond that I imagined when we purchased the house, but it is finally mine. When I first told Birdman that I wanted a pond, he thought I was nuts. (He still thinks I'm nuts but that is besides the point.) I knew that it would just be a matter of me being patient. After five years of gentle nagging (yes, I fully admit to nagging him) we dug our first teeny, tiny pond. Birdman would not agree to the size pond I wanted since he was having problems visualizing me idea. I figured a teeny, tiny pond was better then no pond. After the original pond was dug I never had to mention wanting it larger.  Birdman decided on his own that it needed to be larger. Over the past four years, Birdman has expanded my pond four times so it is finally the size I envisioned nine years ago. 
     We have tried to make our pond as natural looking as possible. I believe that we have accomplished that through the plants we chose, their placements and the rocks surrounding it. The butterflies, hummingbirds, frogs, and dragonflies all seem to agree. 
     The best complement we have received about our pond did not come from any of our friends or neighbors, though they all rave about it. It came from a Double Crested Cormorant. This is the bird that is most known for drying its wings by keeping them spread wide open. Well, we have a lake directly across the street from us that is kept stocked with fish. On a typical day you can spot one or two Double Crested Cormorants either swimming very low in the water with just their neck and head visible or standing around drying their wings. On several occasions now we have had one of them standing besides our pond drying his wings. This bird has stayed beside our pond for hours. We do not keep our pond stocked, so no matter how long the bird stands there waiting he will never catch a fish. Birdman and I believe that we have accomplished making our pond look natural when a bird is bound and determined to catch his meal from it.

The Sextuplets Arrived!

     I received such a wonderful surprise today. Tonight when I left to pick our daughter up from the train station I thought it was just an ordinary school night. We made a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home so that she would have all the supplies she needed to make some cookies for a dear friend that just got out of the hospital. So instead of coming in our front door like we normally do, we entered the house through the garage. In response to our called out greeting to Birdman, we heard "Damn. You ruined the surprise."
Puzzled I went from the kitchen into the livingroom. Sitting just inside the front door was a new birdcage containing six zebra finches. Birdman had placed it so that I would spot the cage as I entered the house if I had come in through the front door. 
     It seems that these six beauties are actually a rescue of a rescue. One of our neighbors had rescued them from an aquaintance of his about a month ago. While he enjoys them, they are a little more then his wife wanted to have around the house since they have two toddlers under two years old. Our neighbor often visits our backyard and has even given tours of it to his family and friends.  He knew that we would gladly welcome these birds into our flock.  Plus he was positive that he would have visitation rights.
     These finches are absolutely beautiful!  It took less then a moment for them to steal my heart.  They are all very comfortable around people and cameras.  I grabbed my camera and took a few quick shots.  I swear two of the birds posed for me.