Finally, Thomas said, "This is too weird -- I can't handle this!" and set her on the counter. We never did figure out what she was after.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Weird helper
Last night, Thomas was chopping zucchini for dinner. Stella had been on his shoulder, but had steadily worked her way down to perching on his forearm instead.
Finally, Thomas said, "This is too weird -- I can't handle this!" and set her on the counter. We never did figure out what she was after.
Finally, Thomas said, "This is too weird -- I can't handle this!" and set her on the counter. We never did figure out what she was after.
Puzzler
Back in the routine, Brian was "helping" me with the Sudoku puzzle yesterday morning. Unfortunately, his idea of help involves standing directly on the puzzle. Usually this is accompanied by him chattering to the pen in my hand. I asked Thomas to get a picture of this, but Brian stopped chattering to the pen when he noticed the camera.
Of course. I'd forgotten about his obsession with the camera. Had I known when we got him, I might have renamed him Norma Desmond.
He's certainly ready for his close-up!
Michelle asked in a comment when I was on vacation about Brian's health and age, seeing that he is so spry. He's about 10 years old, and has a pretty large tumor. We were asked to take him on as a hospice budgie; however, he's shown to have much more energy than expected, so hopefully we'll have him a lot longer than originally thought!
Of course. I'd forgotten about his obsession with the camera. Had I known when we got him, I might have renamed him Norma Desmond.He's certainly ready for his close-up!
Michelle asked in a comment when I was on vacation about Brian's health and age, seeing that he is so spry. He's about 10 years old, and has a pretty large tumor. We were asked to take him on as a hospice budgie; however, he's shown to have much more energy than expected, so hopefully we'll have him a lot longer than originally thought!
Monday, 14 March 2011
Amsterdam birding
Before going to Amsterdam, we'd contacted Flevo Birdwatching to take us on a tour. They'd know the spots to go and be able to help us with identification of European birds. We were a few weeks too early for the migrants, who were mostly still in Africa, but we did get to see quite a few waterbirds and we were able to add quite a few new species.
Walking around town, we also caught sight of different birds, especially the Eurasian Coot, which was practically ubiquitous on the canals, defending its territory:
ETA: Here is a description with pictures of the differences. I can't really tell what the differences are, but they do have different latin names (Fulica americana vs. Fulica atra). The European coots seemed more aggressive than the American ones I've seen, but that could just be due to the fact that these guys are city coots and the American ones I've seen were country coots. Maybe that hardens them? :)
A few moorhens in the park:
Here are a couple of Egyptian Geese walking in front of the IAmsterdam sign (the IAm was curiously missing):
While lunching with our birding guide, this tit flew on to our picnic table and attempted to get some food from us:
Just some of the ducks on the pond:
It was so beautiful! The cormorants were nesting:
And there were a bunch of grey herons in the same pond:
A pigeon and a couple of gulls near the Rijksmuseum:
Though we didn't get any decent pictures, we saw ringneck parakeets at several different locations throughout the city. At first we thought they were quakers, until we got a better look.
It's so great to be back, though we did have a great time. Spring is approaching and our current birding adventures will be much closer to home!
Walking around town, we also caught sight of different birds, especially the Eurasian Coot, which was practically ubiquitous on the canals, defending its territory:
ETA: Here is a description with pictures of the differences. I can't really tell what the differences are, but they do have different latin names (Fulica americana vs. Fulica atra). The European coots seemed more aggressive than the American ones I've seen, but that could just be due to the fact that these guys are city coots and the American ones I've seen were country coots. Maybe that hardens them? :)A few moorhens in the park:
Here are a couple of Egyptian Geese walking in front of the IAmsterdam sign (the IAm was curiously missing):
While lunching with our birding guide, this tit flew on to our picnic table and attempted to get some food from us:
Just some of the ducks on the pond:
It was so beautiful! The cormorants were nesting:
And there were a bunch of grey herons in the same pond:
A pigeon and a couple of gulls near the Rijksmuseum:
Though we didn't get any decent pictures, we saw ringneck parakeets at several different locations throughout the city. At first we thought they were quakers, until we got a better look.It's so great to be back, though we did have a great time. Spring is approaching and our current birding adventures will be much closer to home!
And we're back
Thomas and I just got back from a week and a half in Amsterdam. I'd set up blog entries to post while we were gone to keep things interesting here. So sorry for not responding to comments -- I hope to get on that soon!
We had a great time, though the timing was poor as we'd been in New Orleans for a week, home for 10 days, and then gone again. This time, things worked out such that our bird sitter stayed in our house while we were gone. This was perfect as the birds got out almost as much as they would have had we been home!
Also, Max and our bird sitter have had a rocky relationship in the past, but this time together allowed them to become friends again.
Calypso absolutely loves her; he'd climb down his cage and look for her. He's probably sad we've returned. Also sad is Basil, our foster bird, who tolerates us, but loves her. The first day back, he'd strike at us when we walked past his cage, but things are back to normal now. It's looking like he'll be able to go home next month, though nothing is certain yet.
Our reintroduction into the house went very smoothly. I really think having her living in the house was key to this.
The greys were a little needy, and Stella had to regurgitate to both of us to let us know how much she missed us, but here's the scene a few hours after we were home:
Normally, they wouldn't have wanted to leave us yet for food, but in this case it was too tempting.
I hope to get caught up on comments, e-mails, and reading your blogs soon!
We had a great time, though the timing was poor as we'd been in New Orleans for a week, home for 10 days, and then gone again. This time, things worked out such that our bird sitter stayed in our house while we were gone. This was perfect as the birds got out almost as much as they would have had we been home!
Also, Max and our bird sitter have had a rocky relationship in the past, but this time together allowed them to become friends again.
Calypso absolutely loves her; he'd climb down his cage and look for her. He's probably sad we've returned. Also sad is Basil, our foster bird, who tolerates us, but loves her. The first day back, he'd strike at us when we walked past his cage, but things are back to normal now. It's looking like he'll be able to go home next month, though nothing is certain yet.
Our reintroduction into the house went very smoothly. I really think having her living in the house was key to this.
The greys were a little needy, and Stella had to regurgitate to both of us to let us know how much she missed us, but here's the scene a few hours after we were home:
Normally, they wouldn't have wanted to leave us yet for food, but in this case it was too tempting.I hope to get caught up on comments, e-mails, and reading your blogs soon!
Friday, 11 March 2011
More pictures
When Thomas happens upon the camera, you never know what's going to happen. He was trying to take close-up pictures of Max, while controlling her head so that he'd get a steady shot:
Stella was unhappy with the attention Max was getting, so she made her way down to the table. By this time, however, Thomas had moved on to another victim:
Eventually, Stella got her time in the spotlight:
Rocky's bad side (due to the growth he has in between his upper and lower beak):
His good side:
And Max, though you can see Thomas's finger in the upper left corner, and Max's eyes are a bit narrowed due to the skin tightening from the head pets she's getting:
Stella was unhappy with the attention Max was getting, so she made her way down to the table. By this time, however, Thomas had moved on to another victim:
Eventually, Stella got her time in the spotlight:
Rocky's bad side (due to the growth he has in between his upper and lower beak):
His good side:
And Max, though you can see Thomas's finger in the upper left corner, and Max's eyes are a bit narrowed due to the skin tightening from the head pets she's getting:
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
