Birds | jmgoyder

The Bubbles grow up

by jmgoyder

Remember how we lost our first turkey, Bubble, then replaced her with four more Bubbles? Well, here is one of them (the cheekiest by far). He is big but he will get much bigger. I know because I saw his parents and they were gigantic and the dad was magnificent.

He is the only one who hops right up on the picnic table where I give the gang their morning treats (bread and lettuce). In fact, once I let them out of the yard, he flies straight to the table and waits patiently. He lets me pat him and tickle him under his chin (it’s interesting to get such a close-up look at where the expression ‘turkey neck’ comes from!)

But we still miss our original Bubble….

Wings

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Willy wagtails barricade wash-house

by jmgoyder

There are two things I need to define here; firstly, what is a willy wagtail? The link below will provide you with some information:

http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Rhipidura-leucophrys

The second thing to define is wash-house. Don’t worry, I didn’t know what a wash-house was either once upon a time. The best way to define this phenomenon is to simply describe our wash-house. Okay, from a distance, it looks a bit like a cute little chalet adjacent to the main house. In reality, however, this is a small octogenarian shed which houses a washing machine, a couple of sinks, an old copper and a multiplicity of junk, some of which Husband assures me could be valuable and probably is. The only trouble is that I wouldn’t have a clue what these objects of antique art actually are; the only thing I recognise is a screwdriver which doesn’t actually cooperate the way screwdrivers should when you really need them so it, like other tooly objects, sits in one of the many piles, waiting in vain hope to be rescued by Sothebys.

I have become so used to doing the washing in these somewhat primitive conditions that it doesn’t bother me in the least, except in Spring when the willy wagtails build their nests. They build these nests everywhere of course but the most elaborate of these is the one in the wash-house. Every year there is a nest, eggs, babies and so on and, despite the fact that I love all of that, those willy wagtail parents give me hell when I am trying to do the washing.

You see, they screech, then dive bomb me and, even though they are so tiny, they are very good at head-butting and (I know this is going to sound ridiculous), I am terrified of them!

Hence, I am very much behind with the washing. I mean this is one hell of a scary looking bird, wouldn’t you agree?

Wings

11 Comments »

Perspective and falling into the pond

by jmgoyder

This is ridiculous and I’ve done it twice now.

The first time was the evening after we got the pond for the ducks and geese; I went out to make sure the gates to their yards were locked and completely forgot that the new pond was on my usual route (which I have now altered). Yes, I fell in and I mean totally, up to my neck in slime and shock. I tried to creep back into the house unnoticed but Son saw me and said, “Why are you so wet?” When I told him he couldn’t stop laughing (well, that’s better than being reprimanded!)

The second time was just a few moments ago. I went to check our new emus and to leave a torch on inside their yard (fox deterrent hopefully). On my way out, torchless now, I completely forgot that I had filled one of those shell pools for them and left it at the door to the yard. Yes, slip, slide and in I go again! And this time I banged my nose up a bit; there was even a bit of blood. I’ve just crept into the house in the hope Son won’t notice and he hasn’t – phew, so I am now in dry clothes yet again.

Husband is falling over a lot now; today he fell outside, yesterday he fell inside and the day before outside again. He falls because his legs don’t work properly any more but he keeps trying to do the jobs he always did – watering the garden, cleaning the car, emptying the rubbish, sorting out the hose fittings, fixing things etc.

I went up to the local shop the other day and was only gone around 15 minutes. As soon as I reached the driveway I saw him from a distance – lying prone. The shock! I drove right up to him and leapt out of the car, sobbing, “Are you okay? What happened?” His face was covered in flies because his arms were trapped underneath his body.

Eventually I got him up – me crying and him laughing at me crying! But once we got back into the house I became really stern, told him off; he was already embarrassed but I made it worse and I don’t like that I did that.

So, the beautiful irony of me falling into ponds has given Husband an enormous laugh (a little smile would have been more tolerable, not this huge guffaw!) “Touche, he said with one of his smiles.

Perspective!

Uncategorized Wings

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doudou

by jmgoyder

I’ve always been more attracted to words than to art, so my visual abilities are a bit limited; Husband calls it ‘tunnel vision.’

So for me to find something so beautiful and intriguing, that it doesn’t require words, is a bit of a hard task. It’s as if I need to be struck. Well I have been struck! I’ve been struck by doudou’s entrancing work:

http://doudoubirds.com/

These tiny bird sculptures are so fantastic. Look at the expression on this bird’s face!

It isn’t just doudou’s sculptures that compel me; it’s also her concern for the many members of the animal kingdom that we humans exploit, abuse or simply take for granted. Her blog is just as compelling as her art.

Oh yeah, and she’s sculpting me an emu – or two!

Wings

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When are we going to get a proper pond?

by jmgoyder

In the picture on the left, you see Pearl (Sebastopol) and Seli (Pilgrim) having a ‘swim’. In the picture on the right, Diamond has hopped in and there is now a queue – oh, that’s Woodroffe in the forefront by the way.

As you can see, the babies are all grown up now and the shell pools are a little inadequate! I didn’t want to get a proper pond too soon because I was told by one of the breeders that ducklings and goslings can easily drown, and obviously baby chickens and turkeys are even more at risk.

But finally, now that they’re so BIG, we’ve put the first pond in (I can see we are going to need a few of these!) and they are delighted, I think, although a little hesitant as you can see!

The funny thing is that when I lock them in the yards in the early evening (to keep them safe from the foxes), they still love to squish up together in the shell pools. So I still empty and refill these for them constantly, which sometimes seems a little futile as these tiny pools immediately becomes filthy again. But they don’t seem to mind; in fact they seem to find muddy water much more interesting than clean water – more bugs I guess.

The picture below is to remind you of what they used to look like, not that long ago! If I had known they were going to grow up so fast, I would have savoured these childhood moments more. That reminds me, Son graduated from high school this week. I wonder if he is going to require a bigger pond too – mmm?

Wings

6 Comments »

Eccentric excesses

by jmgoyder

In yesterday’s post about bird nappies, I withheld my opinion to some extent because I was curious to see if readers registered approval or disapproval of such a concept. Instead, there has been a resounding silence! The news article below is about an Australian business that has had success in this ‘field’ and underneath the article there are three comments, two of which are negative.

http://www.news.com.au/national/chicken-nappies-a-coup-for-seamstress/story-e6frfkvr-1225911147663

So here is my opinion for what it’s worth: I don’t like the nappy idea at all. (Okay, I did contemplate it for two seconds). Of course there is nothing overtly cruel about it, however if birds of any sort were meant to be inside they would build houses, not nests. Occasionally our birds venture into the back verandah, and sometimes into the kitchen, but they don’t stay long because they prefer to be outside. It’s the confinement that bothers me and the more I look at the image of the chicken in a nappy in yesterday’s post, the more disturbing I find it, whereas initially I thought it was funny.

I would love to know what you think.

The image below is of the Sebastopol family that belongs to Michael who sold me our three chicks, Pearl, Woodroffe and Diamond. I cannot imagine anything more ridiculous than these beautiful creatures in nappies sitting on the couch watching television, can you?

Oh yeah, and I am not really getting Wantok, the red-tailed cockatoo, a flight suit; that was a joke!

Wings

14 Comments »

Do you have a spare nappy?

by jmgoyder

A few posts ago, I mentioned the newish trend of putting nappies, or diapers, on pet birds. Well, that elicited a fair bit of curiousity from readers, so here is the link to the blog of one of the companies who sells these extraordinary inventions:

http://www.flightquarters.com/blog/?p=264

As you will see, it isn’t just nappies this company specializes in. So, even though I have decided not to do the nappy thing with Woodroffe, the gosling, I am still quite keen on the flightsuit for Wantok, the cockatoo! What colour do you think she’d like?

Wings

5 Comments »

“My side of the mountain”

by jmgoyder

Image via Wikipedia

I have provided a link below to information about my favourite childhood movie.

My side of the mountain chronicled the story of a young boy escaping his suburban lifestyle to subsist in the woods. My favourite scene is when he tames the falcon, but I can’t seem to find that particular clip; alas, I can’t even find the movie.

I was around eight or nine. We had just moved from Sydney, Australia to Toronto, Canada.

When I saw this movie, I wanted to be that boy so much that, in my imagination, I was him. I was the kid living in the woods with all of the animals and I was the one who tamed the falcon.

And, even though now, years later, I have forgotten most of the movie, its premise still grabs me by the throat and makes me yearn!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain

Wings

6 Comments »

An emu dilemma or two

by jmgoyder

The new emus are being delivered sooner than expected and I am just waiting for the phonecall from the emu breeder who happens to originate from the same town where we live. Small world! He now lives in Perth but he is coming south to visit some friends closeby so is going to bring us the Emerys – yeeha!

Okay, now the very benevolent Husband knows we’re getting another Emery or two (I thought it best not to mention the number 6), however the not-so-benevolent Son doesn’t have a clue because he has finally unsubscribed from this blog (another yeeha for more reasons that one!) Obviously Son didn’t see that previous post about me getting more emus – wonderful!

This time I will have to much more vigilant. The fox who killed the other emus did so in the daytime when I thought it was safe. The day they disappeared, we had seen them at 3pm but by 4.30pm they had gone. I now have two fox-proof yards with a third one being refortified, plus I have the greenhouse. Every afternoon, at around 4.30-5pm I lock the geese, ducks and turkeys into the yards so they are safe for the night. That’s what I did with the emus before; my mistake was thinking they would be safe if they ventured outside the house block (5 acres) into the surrounding paddocks.

So I have two dilemmas:

1. I will have to keep a very careful eye on the new Emerys; and

2. I will have to prevent Son from noticing their presence.

I much prefer the first dilemma!

I may have used the following picture before but it’s of Emery. I can’t wait to see the new Emerys!

Animal

6 Comments »

WWE for pheasants

by jmgoyder

From the age of nine to the age of thirteen, Son was absolutely crazy about wrestling. We even flew across the country to Adelaide to see a match once (which he reckons was one of the highlights of his childhood!)

As you may recall, I began this blog with a story about my two golden pheasant males, Phoenix 1 and Phoenix 2, fighting over a female, with Phoenix 2 being exiled and our 80-year-old neighbour ringing up to say he was there.

Well, the saga has continued. First of all, the neighbour arranged, via a wildlife officer, for Phoenix 2 to be returned to us, but Phoenix 1 immediately banished him again and he was back at the neighbour’s house before she even got home (a 2-kilometre flight I might add). So she and I decided that she may as well keep him and she was rather thrilled, so everyone was happy.

Then, a couple of weeks later, she rang to say he seemed to have disappeared which was upsetting for both of us until another neighbour informed us that he was at their place and had attached himself to their mulberry tree. So they, too, caught him and brought him back here but, even though the female pheasant had long since disappeared (can you blame her?), Phoenix 1 once again chased his brother away.

The irony is that Phoenix 1 is now a very lonely pheasant and whimpers outside the back door constantly, whereas Phoenix 2 is happily gorging on mulberries less than a kilometre away. I really miss Phoenix 2 but what can I do? I refuse to aviary the birds, because I want them to have the freedom of choice, but I do hope he goes back to the 80-year-old neighbour’s place because she really loved him.

One thing for sure: I am not getting any more female pheasants! I’m sure you will understand if you look at these pictures of the battle below; it was terrible, it was awesome and it was a hell of a lot more dramatic than any WWE match I’ve seen.

The peace-loving peacocks tried to intervene; well, we all did, but to no avail.