LOST Pearl COCKATIEL BIRD in Toronto

Please help Char the Pearl Cockatiel find her way home!

Char flew off on May 30, 2009 from Yonge & Finch/Sheppard in the Willowdale / North York area in Toronto. Char has all her feathers so she can fly quite well -- she could be anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area by now, Mississauga, Barrie, or maybe even farther. Both her mate, a 23 year old cockatiel, and her humans miss her dearly and are heartbroken from her disappearance.

Char is a cinnamon pearl cockatiel -- a small parrot-like bird with a long tail. She's about 10 inches long from head to tail, approximately the size of a blue jay. But her feather colouring is totally different: light grey with yellow/white/dark grey spots and markings all over her back. Char has a yellowish head with orange cheek patches, and a long yellow-white tail. If you see her outside, she definitely won't look like she belongs in the Canadian wild.


Please, if you have seen her, or see a bird that looks like her, or know someone who has, please let us know so we can bring her home. Or if you know about her but don't want her to come home to us, please at least email us so that we know she is doing well... we can also tell you about her favourite foods and what makes her happy. If you have any information about her, please email us at roanoroanATgmailDOTcom (just replace AT with @ and DOT with .). We offer a generous reward for information leading to her safe return. Thank you.

Wrangling Writing

Haven't touched this blog in ages.

Lately, I've felt like I can't quite write. Sure, I can string some words together to form a sentence, but writing papers these days is a total crapshoot. Unnatural. As if I must twist my text to suit an unknown standard. I don't know if this is just a phase I need to suffer through to emerge a better writer, or if it's a sign I'm not cut out for all this. Hopefully the former. If so, hopefully the suffering will end soon so that the emerging can begin.

The new girl

Lately, I've been so swamped that I haven't had much chance to do much on here, but here are some photos of the new hen, who came to our flock by way of a very kind lady.

This is on Day 1. B got so excited as soon as he heard the new hen. He flew around a few corners, from the kitchen to the living room just to see her for the very first time the day she arrived, and followed her around everywhere for two days.

Day 2: She relaxes after her first misting here and is able to play near B.


Day 4: Despite how devoted B was to her for the first couple days, this is a rare shot of them eating peacefully together. Usually they spar for territory, which is an unfortunate habit that I think B picked up from her after he came on so strong the very first minute they met.


She got a real big shower on Day 11. I'm a sucker for wet bird pics...



This is Day 21, just hanging out on the swingy thing.

Not a sanctuary

I went out of town for 2 weeks this Christmas 2007-2008 and boarded the 2 cockatiels with a "parrot sanctuary" or “parrot rescue” near Peterborough, called Parrot Adopt Southern Ontario (PASO). When I went to pick the birds up, Bird C had passed away and Bird B was injured and hungry and reeking of cigarette smoke.

BACKGROUND: SUMMER 2005
The cockatiels had boarded at PASO before, a couple years ago, at their old location in Oshawa. I felt that the birds came back extremely well-socialized and unafraid of things, so I figured that the PASO people must be very good with parrot behaviour. (Previously, I had probably given the birds a too "sheltered" kind of life trying to protect them from danger.)

However, when I picked the birds up, they smelled faintly of smoke. I asked if anyone in the household smoked and was told no. It was explained to me that a smoker had recently visited the home, so that this was why the birds smelled like smoke.

The woman also told me the cockatiels had been very sweet, and that C would enjoy cuddling up to her under her chin, while she pet him with her finger. I couldn’t believe it – C HATED being touched with hands/fingers and only tolerated being preened by B. When I seemed incredulous, the woman tried to demonstrate, and sure enough, C squirmed and tried to get away from her hand.

These things didn’t add up, but all in all, I felt PASO was a good place to board the birds, since the birds seemed very calm and peaceful when I got them back. I felt that the PASO people were very kind, helpful, and dedicated to parrot care, and so I just dismissed the inconsistencies as misunderstandings.

THE BIRDS – DECEMBER 2007
Both cockatiels were aged around 23 years old and had been in our family for about 22 years. However, they had very different needs since Bird C was much less mobile. C has never been able to fly since we got him, because of a bad droopy wing. Because of that, he’s also had various physical health problems, and is not very strong or active, since he can’t fly. He has weak feet and the front toes are crossed on one foot. He is very cute with a round shaped body. His tail feathers are usually all broken, since he doesn’t pay attention to his tail when moving around.

Bird B is flighted and physically normal and healthy. B is devoted to Bird C, so B would walk along behind C instead of flying alone. B has a sharp hawk-like face with a protruding brow.

JANUARY 2008 – BEFORE PICK UP
When I got back to town in early January 2008, I called PASO to arrange picking the birds up the next day. I spoke to the man who said the next day should be fine, but that I should call again the next morning to confirm with the woman.

When I spoke to the woman the next morning, she informed me that one of my birds might be dead. She told me that my 2 cockatiels had arrived one day, and 2 other cockatiels had come in soon after for adoption, so she was not sure whether the dead cockatiel was one of mine. I asked her specifically if Bird C was okay, thinking that since he was so distinctive with the bad wing, etc., that C would be easy to tell apart. I thought that if I could ensure C was fine, then chances were that B would be fine, being the healthier one of the two. The woman just said she didn’t know and to come over.

My thoughts: Other than a desperate hope that both of mine were all right, the question running through my mind was: How could someone care properly for different birds without being able to tell them apart? The birds had very different needs, especially Bird C who was unable to fly, or climb, and was fairly weak and elderly. He probably wouldn’t be able to defend himself from an attack (from a healthy bird) and would need to be protected and cared for and adequately fed. Other than that, Bird C was especially distinctive in his looks, with his obviously bad wing, broken tail feathers, etc.

JANUARY 2008 – UPON PICK UP

BIRD B’s CONDITION
When we arrived there at PASO to pick up the birds, I found that it was Bird C who had passed. I won’t say any more about that, because I can’t know exactly what happened (I wasn’t there) and I can’t know whether it was simply Bird C’s time to pass on to heaven.

What did and still does concern me was what I noticed about Bird B:

- his right nostril was extremely swollen, so hugely that it looked like a big tumour
- the same nostril was clogged and clotted with blood

- skin was missing from the long front toe of his left foot & he was limping

- a chunk of feathers were missing from his crest, all coming back in as little pin feathers & the longest remaining crest feather had a crooked kink in it

- he reeked of cigarette smoke

I have posted photos so you can see the difference. The top photo along the left is B last summer, with a normal cere/nostrils. The second photo along the right is how he looked after he came back from PASO, with his swollen bloody cere.

There were no explanations initially offered for any of these conditions. I asked about the nostril, and the woman explained: B must have been attacked by a Quaker parrot that morning when the woman was talking to me on the phone. It seemed to be a theory, because the woman didn’t sound sure. She had seen the Quaker attack a bird, but apparently, she hadn’t known which bird got attacked, until I asked her how B’s nostril got hurt.

The smell of cigarette smoke stayed with Bird B for weeks. I brought him in to the shower, thinking that it would get the smell out, but after 3 showers in 3 days, he still reeked of smoke. After 6 showers, the smell had faded a bit for when he was dry, but when he got into the humid shower, he would smell like an ashtray again. It took about 3 weeks for the smell of nicotine to leave his feathers.

My thoughts: With different birds, I could understand not being able to keep watch all the time. So maybe it was understandable that B would get attacked by another bird. What was less understandable to me was why the woman wouldn’t KNOW that B had been attacked – why wouldn’t she care to check up on him, make sure he was all right after the attack? Besides that, I thought it was unacceptable that B reeked so deeply of smoke, which was clearly unhealthy and toxic for him. Even humans get lung cancer from secondhand smoke! I don’t know how much smoke he must have been living in, for him to smell so deeply of smoke, that it would take 3 weeks to clean out.

A BIG PROBLEM: NO FOOD LEFT

Additionally, there was no birdseed left in the birdcage. There was some parrot nut mix in the dish, but it was full of things that the birds never ate and wouldn’t recognize as food. It didn’t have any millet or small husky seeds that was their staple food for over 20 years, and pretty much the only thing C ever ate anymore. (C was a pickier eater than B.) I even saw Bird B picking at the food in the dish that day, looking hungry, but he soon gave up and left when he found nothing to eat there.

I had given PASO a large tub of birdseed for the birds, which should have been more than enough for 2 weeks. When I asked about the birdseed tub to bring back with me, the woman told me that all the birdseed had been used up, since other cockatiels and other parrots had got into their seed and eaten it up quickly. She did not explain why they had not acquired more seed so that my bird(s) would have something to eat.

OTHER THINGS – FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

It seemed to me that B looked rumpled and not very healthy. His feathers looked faded instead of lustrous. He just didn’t look very healthy to me. I was only away for 2 weeks.

The day I went to get B, the woman tried to pick B up a few times while we were talking about C’s passing. Not only did B not step up for her, but he flew away when she tried to pick him up, TWICE. This was very unusual for B, because he is not usually afraid of people, and if anything, he is more likely to bite than flee if he doesn’t want to step up. But besides that, in recent years, he has mellowed out and become much more calm and willing to step up easily all the time.

I didn’t think very carefully about all this at the time while I was there, I just gave the woman some donations and took B home – I hadn’t yet processed my grief over C’s passing. After a while, I wondered how well she could care for birds, who were not only afraid of her, but that she couldn’t tell apart. I think both birds had different special needs. C had obvious physical disabilities, but both birds were quite old, and despite B’s relative health, he wasn’t as strong as he was when he was 5 years old. He was clearly no match for whatever attacked him.

I have tried to keep this post as factual as possible so I can just report what happened and what I observed. I wanted to inform everyone about the conditions I found B in, which I think are unacceptable for anyone claiming to provide care for parrots. I don’t think I personally believe that the people at the PASO intended anything malicious, but perhaps, they are experiencing personal difficulties that prevent them from giving all the birds staying with them a smoke-free, healthy environment to live in. Based on my earlier experience in 2005 and the trust I had in them, I had recommended PASO to other parrot owners in the past. I can no longer recommend them, and I urge anyone who is thinking about leaving their birds there to consider carefully whether PASO really is still a good place to bring your loved ones.

Safe Flight

From Tao Te Ching # 15

Those who flow as life flows know
They need no other force:
They feel no wear, they feel no tear,
They need no mending, no repair.

- Lao Tzu, trans. Witter Bynner


High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

- Fl. Officer John Gillespie McGee


Look to This Day

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth;
The glory of action;
The splendor of achievement;

For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

- Kalidasa


Even the gorgeous royal chariots wear out and indeed this body too wears out, but the teaching of goodness does not age and so Goodness makes that known to the good ones. Even the gorgeous royal chariots wear out and indeed this body too wears out, but the teaching of goodness does not age and so Goodness makes that known to the good ones. Even the gorgeous royal chariots wear out and indeed this body too wears out...

Non-random things about me

1. I like to do little quasi-scientific experiments in my spare time.
2. Food should feed the soul.
3. Non-humans are more intelligent than most of us give credit for.
4. I strive to help my animal companions achieve self-actualization and emotional equanimity.
5. Education, critical thinking and love can solve every important problem.
6. I'm frequently accused of being an unrealistic idealist.
7. I'm a moral realist.
8. I like to grow...

Bloody Bird

True confession. I've been falling behind in grooming so I wanted to trim the birds' nails today. C's nails in particular have been getting a bit too long and spindly... so I worry that he'll get them caught on something, get tangled and trip: ideas I don't much relish, seeing as he has enough physical complications to deal with.

So I did B's nails first. This is because he moves a lot faster than C, and I know I have less chance of getting him calmly if he gets too much of a glimpse of what's coming. Now, anyone who knows B knows that he hates being confined like the devil and gets extremely upset. So, after trying to hold him in a towel to get to his nails, I let him out and just sat him on my hand -- and for the first time EVER in our 20-plus-year-long relationship, he let me clip his nails while just sitting there on my hand. I was so proud of him; it was so much easier on both of us this way!

Cutting C's nails got a bit more complicated. He has the bad wing that gets in the way, and the lucky little front toe that crosses over the long one. I tried to trim his nails the way I did with B, but finally realized that he was getting too excited, verging on panic, and that I'd have to hold him in the towel to keep him still.

When I finally had him ready, I must have been rushing and made a terrible mistake... I clipped a bit too far on his lucky toenail, he squealed and twisted, and then I found some blood on my finger. I had cut too far to the quick. I got out the starch to stem any bleeding, but I feel horrible about it.

And now C's been huddling here on the perch all day with his back to me. He doesn't usually sit like that -- he usually likes to sit out front, facing out -- but he's right. I deserve it.

If you're reading this, sweetie, I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

From the choir

I was browsing Youtube the other day and found a video of a great a cappella cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" by a group called the Dynamics. The Dynamics actually sing all the manic little instrumentations of the original, which I found pretty impressive.

Here's another Youtube video, this one of Ben Folds doing a cover of the same song on piano and some improvised percussion instruments. My favourite version of the song is actually Iron & Wine's acoustic cover, which is very mellow and relaxing... but the birds quite like the boppy a cappella version from the Dynamics and have been singing along as I typed this. If I had it in iTunes, I'd put it next to the Jacques Loussier Boléro in their playlist; they were singing again to that earlier tonight too.
A recent pic of the boys in the shower. As is typical, only C felt like getting clean...

Loro música

Right now, I'm listening to a jazzy interpretation of Ravel’s Boléro by Jacques Loussier Trio. The birds really like it! One of the birds burst into impromptu mating song, syncopating his phrases with the beat of the Boléro. I've added it to the birds' playlist in iTunes, but they hardly ever use my computer. Bird C did type out a happy face once while I was working though. It made sense for him to type that out before anything else, since he IS the happy-go-lucky one. =)

The other week, I went to watch an Anton Kuerti piano master class. The master class was fascinating for a listener: it made me conscious of all these little distinctions in playing and interpretation that I wouldn't necessarily have thought of before. Kuerti advocated the Fresh Finger Rule for ornamentations for the student who played Mozart's Piano Sonata in D Major. What really impressed me was how Kuerti would demonstrate on his piano and have this beautiful sound come out in just a bar or two. I heard him play at a recital years ago, and his playing was beautiful then, as well -- but hearing two people play the same notes, back-to-back, both on Steinway grands, made Kuerti's mastery really obvious. I don't know how he gets that gorgeous tone with just a few notes... He must have magic, soulful hands.

The Relieving & The Ridiculous

I'm glad to report that Bird B's foot got better. I'm relieved that it was temporary and so must have been a muscle strain.

Though it's been much colder lately, I've still been trying to take the birds outside when I can. I figure it's good for the flock, even if it's for 2 minutes to get some cool fresh air.

B was especially good when I brought them out a few days ago. He took off from my hand for his flight exercise, flew around the yard in a circle, then landed right back on my hand! Usually, I would expect him to land on the roof instead, and make me wait and plead before coming back, but maybe he knew it was cold out and so didn't want to be caught out on the wet roof.

I'm posting some older photos of the birds looking all well and clean after a shower. Apologies for not having more up-to-date photos; I haven't been shooting much lately.

+++

I did Yoga for the first time in probably a couple months last week. My sister had brought me a Richard Freeman Yoga tape, so it was the first time I'd attempted this one. At first, it didn't seem all that different from my usual Richard Freeman Yoga Breathing and Relaxation tape, but after an hour of this new one, I was sore afterward for days! Literally days! Three days, I think. There were all these ridiculous poses that were reminiscent of stretches that would usually be done sitting on the floor, except that they were supposed to be done standing up. On one leg. I couldn't pronounce these poses, let alone do them. Those ones made me laugh at the absurdity of the effort -- and I'm not just talking inner smile!

Limber

I'm worried about the birds. Bird B in particular has suddenly started favouring one leg. He puts very little weight on his right leg/foot and limps around everywhere. Given that he can fly, and is extremely strong and agile (remember his inversions), it seems highly unlikely that he hurt himself. So this worries me. I resort to hoping that he did indeed have an accident, however unlikely, and strained a muscle, since I can't bear serious consideration of the alternative: a tumour pressing on the nerve.

This is an older photo from his more limber days.

Rhapsody

Feeling a bit wistful tonight on All Hallows Eve. Didn't celebrate really except for wrapping up some harvesting yesterday, as blogged.

Lately I've been tinkling the ivories more. It must be the reading that befuddles my brain, and impels me to wander away from the books to do something more tactile. And it's more immediately rewarding even if I can't play well. I've been practicing some dinky arrangements of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, mostly the third movement, but sometimes the second movement, Adagio sostenuto, as well as the 18th Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Technically, I think I'm in over my fingers as I haven't made much progress on either in over a decade. That may be why I never left them behind.

It will be colder starting tomorrow, All Saints' Day. I remember and look forward to warmer times for Beltane in the spring.

Eden's Eve

In the past weeks, I've been writing a lot off-blog so I've been rather low on words. But now, in honour of the last days of October, I'll post some doubleplusgood updates from the garden:
New record from Big Daddy. This chard leaf is over 95 cm long! I'm sure it could have gone longer but I was impatient to harvest one night. If I can control my harvesting urges, I should be able to get one over a metre long... but time may be running out.I also have a new record for my peppers! I've been harvesting some green ones that are over 9 cm tall, even larger than the one pictured here. And best of all, I got my one red pepper to ripen fully to a stunning scarlet! It's all documented here in this photo series:


For fans of the birds, here are a couple of photos of them from our time out today (October 30), enjoying the sunny afternoon:



Here's one with all my little darlings in one shot:


For M who asked for garden advice: First of all, I really cannot claim to be the best for advice on garden productivity, unless you use me as a negative example. It took me three years to get not much, as I have been lamenting for over a year on this blog. That said, I would recommend Lee Reich's Weedless Gardening, which is basically a gardening method inspired by nature. Besides the perk of having a theoretically weedless garden, I like the philosophy of minimizing disturbances to the garden and soil, which furnishes me with a ready excuse for not working too hard on it, so here are links to some articles by Reich.

My personal Holy Grail for gardening has been the tomato: you can't buy anything that tastes like a freshly homegrown tomato. I found sweet bell peppers to be rewarding also, since my green ones are about as sweet as the red peppers I buy at the supermarket, and my one red pepper was even sweeter and riper than that! I also like having fresh greens so I'd recommend some lettuces, which are pretty easy, and will grow early in the season. Don't plant too much because you probably won't be able to eat it all before they go to seed in the heat. Buy the tastiest lettuce seeds and watch the soil, since that will have a huge impact on flavour. And of course, I'm partial to Big Daddy and Swiss chard in general, which will keep going even through the summer heat.

Try some fresh herbs, since it's so much better to pick what you need from the garden than to go with dried herbs or chance it with fresh cut herbs from the store. I adore basil, but thyme, rosemary, or any other herbs you use would all be good choices. With the basil, you could make pesto, and with the tomatoes, you'll have most your ingredients for a fresh tossed summer pasta with extra virgin olive oil. (Remember that EVOO is good for your health, being a source of health-promoting monounsaturated fats and polyphenol antioxidants.)

As for size, I think that's very much a personal preference. Have it be as big as it needs to be to do what you want. Consider how much you like digging and toiling. If you're not sure, I'd advise starting smaller so that it's not too overwhelming at first, but leave open possibilities for future expansion. Also, you can use some containers if you have a nice lawn you don't want too huge a hole in, but keep in mind that containers will be more time-consuming to water. Smaller plants like herbs and lettuces will do best in containers, or even peppers if the container is large enough. I find that tomatoes really need their space, so that goes best in the plot.

Timing depends on your season. How long and warm is the summer where you are? If shorter, you may need to start earlier by seeding indoors, which may be a good idea anyway. But if you're looking for minimal work, you can always forgo that and just toss some seeds at the dirt and see what happens!

Jardin de Verdure

As requested, I'm posting a photo of my whole garden, as well as a little map plotting the location of the different veggies. The huge tall drying plants are the lettuce plants gone to seed. Usually I would pull them out after they flower, since they're not so edible by then, but I decided to let these ones go to seed to see if I'll get tons of lettuce plants next year without sowing any. I've since pulled up the seeded lettuces to make room for the other plants and laid the lettuce corpses to rest under the tomatoes. My philosophy toward gardening is pretty liberal and permissive, for those who haven't already guessed.

Apparently, peppers do well to have their first central fruits taken to encourage further growth of other peppers. So, after the initial peppers, I have been trying to remain patient long enough to let some of my bell peppers grow larger. I measured one of the larger peppers I've ever harvested at about 8 cm tall. We'll try to do better than that! Actually, one of my container plants is growing a bell pepper that is starting to ripen in spots to a vivid scarlet! I'll be so happy if I get a red pepper -- I just need this warm sunny weather to hold up.

I also got a picture of the only cucumber I've ever had as this is my first year trying cucumbers. There was one cucumber before this one that I was just about to harvest, but when I went to get it the next day, it was already gone -- undoubtedly the work of one of the monster squirrels. The cucumber was tasty though; I felt so accomplished and connected to my nearly-idyllic little garden when I plucked my cucumber off the vine, washed off its prickles, and then chomped on it while working outside.

PS. The plan view of the garden is kind of upside down when compared with the view from the front edge, so if anyone is trying to match up the veggies with the map plan, just turn that around. In other words, the top edge of the first photo points North, while the top edge of the plan photo points South. Happy orienteering!

Meditations

I'm not usually up at 6 in the morning but today I woke up just after 5, after about 4 hours of sleep. Only. My brain woke me, tortured by thoughts of Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy, which I've been reading again lately.

I think I referred to the Meditations back in a previous post when I said I was reading something not very engaging. Well, the good news is, the Meditations are a bit more compelling this time around. The bad news is, its problems and inconsistencies, which seem irreconciliable at this point to me, are troubling enough to be encroaching on the quality and quantity of my sleep.

For the next hour, I tried to relax and fall asleep, but Descartes kept haunting me, so I gave up and decided to do some yoga for an hour. Thankfully, after the exquisite corpse pose, I'm feeling more relaxed and centred now and my head hurts less. At this rate, I'll either be the most flexible girl around, or the most sleep-deprived.

I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awake.
- Descartes

A Resting Inspiration

Alex the African Grey parrot died earlier this month, at the tender age of 31 years. Alex was made famous by Dr. Irene Pepperberg's studies into intelligent use of vocalizations by parrots, which have also inspired me in my care and interaction with my own flock members.

Here's a video obituary from ABC news that shows some of Alex's responses, and as well, here's a CNN live interview with Irene Pepperberg after Alex's death. The part when he asks Irene about Alex also being her friend was very moving for me. I interpret Irene as trying to protect Alex's legacy, as well as her work, by refusing to explicitly acknowledge any emotional attachment she felt for her avian colleague. Perhaps more revealingly, she also doesn't explicitly deny caring for him as a friend.

In Alex's memory, I'm also including a favourite anecdote about him from "That Damn Bird", a 2003 talk with Pepperberg:

We were training Alex to sound out phonemes...to see if he understands that his labels are made up of sounds that can be combined in different ways to make up new words... Thus we are trying to get him to sound out refrigerator letters, the same way one would train children on phonics. We were doing demos at the Media Lab for our corporate sponsors; we had a very small amount of time scheduled and the visitors wanted to see Alex work. So we put a number of differently colored letters on the tray that we use, put the tray in front of Alex, and asked, "Alex, what sound is blue?" He answers, "Ssss." It was an "s", so we say "Good birdie" and he replies, "Want a nut."

Well, I don't want him sitting there using our limited amount of time to eat a nut, so I tell him to wait, and I ask, "What sound is green?" Alex answers, "Ssshh." He's right, it's "sh," and we go through the routine again: "Good parrot." "Want a nut." "Alex, wait. What sound is orange?" "ch." "Good bird!" "Want a nut." We're going on and on and Alex is clearly getting more and more frustrated. He finally gets very slitty-eyed and he looks at me and states, "Want a nut. Nnn, uh, tuh."

Not only could you imagine him thinking, "Hey, stupid, do I have to spell it for you?" but the point was that he had leaped over where we were and had begun sounding out the letters of the words for us. This was in a sense his way of saying to us, "I know where you're headed! Let's get on with it," which gave us the feeling that we were on the right track with what we were doing. These kinds of things don't happen in the lab on a daily basis, but when they do, they make you realize there's a lot more going on inside these little walnut-sized brains than you might at first imagine.

I also figured out how to update the links section on the right sidebar of my blog, so now there are finally some real links in there instead of the dummy default links. Amongst others, I've included a link to The Alex Foundation, where more information on Pepperberg's research can be found. I even managed to hack a bit of html in the template (which is really not my forte, so this is a big deal for me!) to include an inspiring bit from Unger in my sidebar, so I hope these changes will improve the blog and encourage further exploration.

Rest in peace, Alex.

Look Ma! Spray Millet!

It looks like I've managed to make my very own homegrown birdseed after all!

After letting some of the pointy mystery seeds that I blogged about in July mature, we did a taste test. Once the birds figured out how to extract the seeds from the outer husks, they loved munching on it! I put some photos up in yesterday's post, although they were actually shot last month. Unfortunately, the monster squirrels grabbed most of the pointy seed heads for themselves, so the birds only got one or two. I also grew some oats, but the squirrels also ate that all up before I could harvest it for the birds.

Last week, though, I noticed a new kind of seed growing in my soil! Look familiar to anyone?

Yay for spray millet! The birds love it! They were just finishing up this one today!

Now I just have to figure out how to keep the squirrels away from the birdseed long enough for the birds to eat them!

Hopping Up

Today felt like summer, so the flock's been taking advantage of the good weather. B's quite good and still affectionate. Where C will be taking a birdnap, B hops around trying to preen everything on me, including clothing parts like zippers, ties, as well as the usual preening targets. A bit scarily, he likes to go for my eyes. Actually more than a bit scary, since he's not the most gentle bird, and he's liable to get very excited and vehement. He was being super cute today, trying to angle in closer to hop from the branch perch onto my knee, with his tail getting caught in the branches.

I think the wild birds have their eyes on B. A few days ago, B flew around for some exercise and landed on the roof. He was being coy again about flying back to me and C, when a mourning dove promptly landed next to him on the roof. The dove eyed the cockatiel, then fluffed up a bit and approached my B. B looked a bit nervous, and when the dove got even closer, B quickly flew back down to us. I don't think he welcomed the dove's advances!

Then, while we were hanging out today, I saw a blue jay land in a nearby tree, who I also think was eyeing B. In the past few months, B has landed in the big spruce out back a couple times, and both times, I saw a blue jay join him there as soon as B landed. So I think it might be the same blue jay curious about who B is, and why B's crest is yellow and not blue. He seems to be just friendly though, and not as amorous and intimidating as the dove!

+++

I've been a bit sick lately -- I think it's the flu -- so I have been trying to self-medicate. Tried the olive scallion tea again, but that didn't do much, so I tried a stronger Chinese herbal medicinal tea. Also got some Echinacea capsules and Vitamin C capsules (Ester-C) to help out my immune system, and while I think the Echinacea helped a bit, I don't think the Ester-C did much. But, I'm still not feeling great. So just now, I went for some Prednisolone, and I'm hoping that will work on my sore throat and coughing. I also have some Dextromethorphan handy to suppress my cough if I need it, but apparently, it may cause drowsiness and happens to be classified as a "dissociative hallucinogenic drug" at higher doses, so I think I'll try to avoid that one. Sounds like fun -- clearly not my style.

Feathered Glue

Since my schedule's been so busy lately, I haven't had much time to spend with the birds. Yesterday I finally had some time, and the weather was good, so we went outside to hang out while I tried to get some work done.

B must have missed me a lot from the week, because he was all over me like a feathered glue. He'd clamber up my front to sit on my shoulder, but not in the demanding self-interested way he usually does, just to get a choice perch from where he can look down on the rest of us. Instead, he was so well-behaved and eager for my approval that he would step off my shoulder onto my hand as soon as I presented my hand to him. He spent a long time enthusiastically preening my face and hair, and generally showering me with his birdy care and affection.

You're nobody 'til somebody loves you.
- Dean Martin, amongst others.


Addendum: Some reports have come in to indicate that the "Ethan Hawke" mentioned in my Cornucopia post should be more correctly spelled "Viggo Mortensen". The mystery star really didn't look like Viggo to me, but then what do I know? I probably couldn't recognize him without an entourage of hobbits. At any rate, I think both men were at the TIFF last week, so it's also possible I spotted both of them, wearing the same suit and pulling a switcheroo in the middle.

Clipping Time Coupons

I'm starting to see time a bit differently.

Last week I stocked up on 54 rolls of toilet paper from the store. I was careful to buy only the "double rolls". Double rolls apparently have 330-352 sheets per roll (varies with brand) instead of the standard 176 sheets per roll. Assuming it takes me 60 seconds to get a new roll out of the bag, remove the empty roll, put the new roll on, and fold and recycle the empty cardboard roll, this will halve the time I spend changing toilet paper rolls!

NEW AND IMPROVED! ADDED BONUS! That's an extra 25 minutes of time in my life per batch! Even more if I average more processing time per roll change!

I'd post a picture of my 54 rolls of toilet paper, but that'd cut into my time profit margin, so I'll have to invoke the imagination for this one.