a glorious moment

A few high jinks this morning, when I opened the door to let Kwe out, and Scruffy sailed out… straight over the poles surrounding our little courtyard, and into the lower branches of a nearby tree. Where he got stuck, hanging upside down and squawking. Kwe said to me “Silly, I was busy playing with Scruffy when you grabbed me to chuck me outside – so why shouldn’t he also come outside?”

I was still in pyjamas, and there was a guest sitting just a few meters away, so I ran inside and through our rooms and stuck my head out of the door to yell for Johann. Also, Johann is a lot taller than me and I didn’t stand a chance of reaching Scruffy. He had apparently gathered that something was up – he was sitting having breakfast on the main verandah – and was halfway across the lawn by the time I pulled on some jeans and a shirt. I went back outside and by then he had already plucked Scruffy from the tree – he said he was still stuck, but no longer upside-down. Kwe was in the trees shrieking at Johann, together with a wild lourie (I think).

So all’s well that ends well. No other news… Chubby’s hocks are fine now, starting to callus over again – no infections etc.

wild things and birdie-sattvas

Too many monkeys and wild louries round here lately. We’ve had to chase them away a lot – Johann is better at that than I am since he makes impressive noises and throws sticks much further than I can into the trees. He also recently bought a kids’ water-cannon thing, and it reaches quite far. The aviary is a restless place at the moment and Chubby doesn’t enjoy the frenetic activity.

Today the wild louries disappeared quickly – they seem to have realised we’re serious now about shooing them away – though the monkeys were more persistent. It can make my work life a bit difficult I must say. Not easy to have to jump up from the PC all the time to attend to the wildlife!

I had Scruffy outside in his harness yesterday morning for quite a long time. Took him for a nice walk, and also left him alone for a while on the bird table, while I kept a close eye on him from the building. Four wild louries came down and ate right next to him, which I think he really enjoyed. The bully-boy lourie came back afterwards and started roughing Scruffy up a bit, so I made myself visible and he disappeared. That’s the same bird that bullies Kwe so badly. Must be a dominant male. Really gets nasty sometimes. Yesterday Kwe was a subdued little wreck after being chased, and I thought he’d never go outside again. But he went outside today for a good long time, so no worries there. Apparently I just have to change my strategy a bit – until yesterday I’d got quite strict about chucking Kwe out of the aviary whenever he and the wild one start their nonsense of pecking at each other through the mesh. In future, I’ll focus on chasing the wild one! Those are the worst possible times to chuck Kwe out, since the outcome is always the same for him: fear and humiliation.

Chubby’s hocks are being doctored following the calluses falling off last night. It’s been needing to happen, but the left hock in particular is very sensitive and raw now. It will take a while for the calluses to develop again – she does need them – and then fall off again. A cyclical process taking a few months each time. So for a while we will have to change her shoes and dressings on a daily basis and I’ve put her onto antibiotics as a precaution because there is a large wound on the left hock. Hopefully it will heal over quickly – they usually do. But it’s not guaranteed. This is her greatest vulnerability, after all.

She’s incredibly patient and trusting when we have to handle her like this. We both are still awed by her, even after 3 years of doing this. Tonight I told Johann that Chubby must be a birdiesattva! (For my non-Buddhist readers, a bodhisattva is a being of great compassion and wisdom, if not spiritual enlightenment).

really… no news

There really isn’t anything to say, so I’m just checking in. It rained solidly for nearly a week and the birds just sat around, bored and cold but otherwise fine. Now the sun is back and the louries are very content. Everything is peaceful. I still think about the most recent barbet now and then, and feel a bit sad. Wish I could have helped him.

But life goes on, and it’s good that the louries are happy here. Kwe still goes out now and then, but he prefers to be in the aviary most of the time. He loves Chubby very much, and he’s also fond of Scruffy (who is of uncertain gender and independent spirit).

I called FreeMe yesterday to try and find out if the black-collared barbet survived. it seems he didn’t. The lady who answered said she could find neither his card nor the bird himself. That either means he didn’t make it, or he was taken home by a volunteer. I hope he wasn’t euthanased, but he may well have been (FreeMe have a rather enthusiastic euthenasia policy, I have heard).

another barbie

I couldn’t help this one. Someone brought it to us on Wednesday afternoon, and on Thursday afternoon Johann took the bird to FreeMe, which is where it should have been taken initially. Poor thing had to go through 2 long car journeys and 2 different human environments. It was a black collared barbet with apparently only a slightly injured wing. I’m sure its chances of recovery were good, but on the first day it ate and on the second day it refused to eat. It also pecked my hand pretty badly whenever I held it, which I tried to do so as to feed it. The nicks in my skin are still healing!

It will be tube fed at FreeMe and an expert can look at the wing. Unnverving that it just got brought to me without a phone call first. I am not an expert – I’m just someone who fell in love with disabled louries. And I’m pretty burnt out, too…

And because of feeling so burnt out I have finally taken the plunge and decided to take an overseas trip, long overdue since I’ve wanted to go to Israel since my youth. Finally saved up the air fare after 4 years of very hard work with no holiday. I’ll go there in May for 10 days, and the precious birds will have to take their chances with just Johann to care for them!

And by the way, the canary’s eggs were indeed infertile. She stopped sitting on them the day after I made that comment a couple of posts back.

freedom

Above: Scruffy (back) and Kwe (in front) on the outside bird table. Scruffy’s blue leash is just visible.

Below: Scruffy (a zoom photo – I was standing quite far away in reality).

Last week I had Scruffy out of the aviary twice, in his harness. The second time he met a wild lourie, which stood on the table beside him and showed neither aggression nor much affection. It was good to see, though, since Scruffy often longs to go and join the wild birds. I’ve been placing his leash on the “flight line”, which means I can stay well away myself, just keeping an eye on things.

Last week we also released some young tortoises which a friend brought. She had been caring for them after someone else brought them to her. They seemed so tiny, but at 23 months she deemed them old enough for release! Can you imagine how small they must be just after hatching, if this is their size (shown below on Johann’s open hand) at 23 months? They’re called tigershell tortoises, I think, and all 4 were apparently females. We kept them in the aviary overnight and then they were taken to a nearby area where there is running water. We all hope they don’t fall in.

Scruffy’s flight harness

The friend who told me about flight suits asked how it’s going. This is what I wrote to her:

It’s made a huge difference! Scruffy had got to the point where he was throwing himself against the mesh of the aviary (actually flying into it) and crying, he was feeling so caged in. I got a proper flight harness, not just the flight suit (which is designed to catch poop and covers the whole body, whereas the harness is literally just a little harness, but more secure for flight). It comes with a short leash, and I also ordered a “flight line” which is something I can attach the leash to and leave Scruffy on his own outside – though of course I still stay close and keep a close eye on him. It’s just that I don’t have to hold the leash in my hand. It all cost an arm and a leg but it has been so well worth it!Funny thing, I always visualized Scruffy on a leash of some sort and used to comment about it to Johann. It was so obvious that that’s what he needs. I wouldn’t have been able to design it myself though. So it’s like a dream come true!

So anyway, I took him out several times when the things first arrived – in mid or late Jan, but I was a bit over-enthusiastic about it and quickly realized that we both need to get used to it more gradually. Since then I have been easing him into it and he is much more relaxed. He is learning the limits of the thing, that he can’t fly off into the bush, and that he still faces his own limits with his little crippled legs, in that he can’t land nicely on branches etc (plus I don’t allow that because he could get tangled up). But I’ve taken him on a couple of walks around the place and shown him some walls he can sit on. In short, ever since the first time I took him out in the harness, he’s stopped complaining about being in the aviary. Hasn’t flown into the mesh once, and doesn’t just sit and cry from frustration any more. In fact he is usually only too happy to get back inside! – but in a good way. Yesterday he was very restless so I took him out. It seems to have settled down to about once a week now. Last week we actually had all 3 birds out together at the garden table under the trees (one on a leash, the other disabled one is fine unleashed, and the third isn’t disabled so comes and goes from the aviary anyway).

RIP

We had to put little Barbie down this afternoon. It’s been two weeks, with minimal improvement in his legs and no hope of eventual recovery and rehab. Very sad, but certainly the right decision. That would have been no life for a bird. Johann took him over to his vet brother next door for the euthanasia.

And on Thursday I took the 4 canary juveniles to a bird shop. We’ve decided not to let them breed again from next year onwards. Which will mean taking eggs away as they’re laid, and replacing them with plastic ones. Pinky’s new eggs aren’t hatching and I think she’s been sitting for 2 weeks by now. Perhaps they’re infertile.

tough little bird

Barbie (the crested barbet) is hanging in there. He has some use of his legs and feet back, but is still not able to put his weight on top of them. So he spends most of his time dragging himself around on his belly, using his wings and a small amount of propulsion from the feet pushed out behind him. As of a couple of days ago, he has also been able to sit with his feet in front of him – he can now move them around to the front and sit on his backside like a cartoon bird, whereas previously he couldn’t do that. He also has a magnificent kicking movement back when I’m holding him up to feed him, whereas previously there was just no movement at all – no tone, no clawing reflex, nothing. He does have some grip in the feet now.

Yesterday and this morning he munched his one foot until it bled, presumably out of frustration, although it could also be that there is a small blister from the foot being dragged. I’ve bandaged it up.

It’s going to be a long wait, I think. His D-day is on Sunday, when we should be deciding whether to put him down or not. My feeling is that for as long as there is still some improvement taking place, no matter how slow or small, we can’t put him down as full healing may still happen. At the moment, improvement clearly is still happening. Who knows how things will look by Sunday. He’s a really cute bird, and is helping to undo my previous aversion for barbets. They’re awfully stubborn and pig-headed birds – but in this case, it may be to the little fellow’s advantage.

He still eats very well and it’s a pleasure feeding him, even though it has to be done so very often. He absolutely guzzles worms and I reckon the protein is good for him right now. I’ve given up trying to sling him up at night – that only lasted 2 nights before he showed me that he can now kick well enough to get free (repeatedly), thank you very much.

In general, I am suffering from quite bad burn-out with the birds. The main problem is that I haven’t been able to get away even for a weekend for the past 3 years or so, and it’s starting to affect me quite badly. I feel claustrophobic and sad too much of the time these days. This has pushed me to the point where I am now ready to take the risk of leaving them for a week to 10 days in Johann’s care while I am away, and that means I’m busy planning a long-overdue holiday to happen in the next few months. If something happens to the birds while I’m gone, so be it. Previously I couldn’t even bear the thought. It’s better than simply deciding to put them down so that I can get away!

wait and see

The avian vet said to wait 10 to 14 days before we decide whether the barbet’s legs are looking any better. He’s the most unbelievably fiesty bird. I struggled for 2 hours last night to get him slung up in a hammock as the vet instructed. He just kept slithering out – he would pay dead while I was busy with him, and then wriggle free the moment my back was turned. The restraints got tighter and tighter but that didn’t stop him. Eventually he did fall asleep while suspended, which was a great relief and I’m sure it was good for his injury. And my efforts paid off in that tonight I got him up there in about 3 minutes flat. OK, so that was the first attempt. But the second attempt was even quicker, and he’s still there.

Today he was dragging himself all around the cage again, as he did 2 days ago (he spared himself yesterday, and rested the whole day). Still eating well and the droppings have normalised.

He is teaching me the importance of caring for someone or something not because you believe it will survive and heal, but because you know it may not.

Below is a photo of some canary adults plus two fluffy, pale chicks on the far right side.

And here is the killer doormouse. The box is still propped in the tree at the bottom of the driveway (I checked this afternoon)….