Proudly Introducing Pinky and Perky

Here they are in their debut video, Pinky and Perky the most gorgeous little things on the planet.  I'm so proud of them.  Their eyes are open already and they have primary feathers growing.  Huge thanks to Jenny for filming them and making my day!

The Abandoned Wives Club

Well it all went wrong yesterday.  My birds didn't come home to roost.  Two of the birds who were on nests deserted them. I found a dead chick in one, about the same age as the two I took to The Haven, but I think it had been dead a while because it looked squashed.  In the other there was a cold egg.  The mothers spent the night sitting on the roof of the house opposite, presumably waiting for their mates to return.  At dusk there was just one poor little girl left sitting resolutely on her nest.  I don't think she had even come down to feed all day.  I think she probably only has eggs because she was the last one to build her nest. 

I spent the day anxiously looking out of the window praying to see a white bird.  I was so upset, I had put so much love into those birds it was horrible to think they had just deserted me the first day.  When it was dark I put the floodlight on and thought they were all back but it was an optical illusion and all the nest boxes were empty.  Except of course the one with the poor lonely little girl but she is round the back so I couldn't see her.

In the morning the two birds were still on the roof opposite.  It's the highest point and I think they were watching for their mates.  I put some food in one of their red dishes on the front lawn hoping they would see it and come down for it but they just sat stubbornly up there.  The poor little mother was still on her nest and was not coming down so I put some seed in her nestbox for her incase she was going to starve rather than get off her eggs.  I had to go out shopping and spent the whole time looking out of the car window to see if I could spot my birds!  I felt totally miserable with them being missing.

When I got home at around lunchtime I was thrilled to see that the two birds off the roof had come home and were feeding on the ground.  What's more the lonely little mother was down with them feeding.  All I could think was thank heavens at least with three of them I still have a little flock.  I named them 'The abandoned Wives Club'

At about 2pm I went outside to hand the phone to Hairy Hubby when he started pointing behind me and grinning.  There were clearly now FOUR birds feeding under the dovecote.  I sneaked round the back to see if the little Mummy was still on her nest and she was!  He told me that two birds had just flown in right over my head!  I was almost jumping for joy.  That made FIVE birds in total.  Where the other two had come from I don't know.  If they wanted to stay out all night they could have had the manners to leave me a note!

So at dusk tonight there are five birds in the dovecote which means that four are still on the missing list.  Pinky and Perky are still doing fine at the Haven.  I can't wait to see them when I go in on Tuesday.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?  A nervous breakdown maybe???

Dove release day!

Well the big morning arrived, today was the day to take the net off the Doves!  Typically just as we were about to go out and do it someone arrived wanting the Hairy Hubby's attention so I had to kick my heels for half an hour.  Oh the frustration.

We started by taking off all the logs which were holding the net down then peeled it back so that most of the dovecote was open.  I didn't want to steam right in and just take the whole thing down and scare the birds incase they all flew and never came back because we were so horrible!  One bird flew almost immediately, we had barely walked away and he was off, circling the garden in glee.



Removing the net




Freedom!



It was ages before another one would go.  They all just sat there looking out.  It was nice in a way to think that they were happy there and didn't feel the need to escape.  After a while I decided to put some food down for them to tempt them down to the ground.  Two came down quite quickly and had a fight before flying off.  Eventually there were five of them all flying round the garden together.  It was a lovely sight to see them and also nice to think that they were waiting for each other.  We had a very tense moment when the local Sparrowhawk appeared.  Now I know what they mean when they say 'my heart was in my mouth'  I could barely breath!  He was very close to them so he must have seen them but he didn't make a strike at them.  I think I would have had heart failure on the spot if he had. 

Flying together, such a lovely sight!

This left four still in the Dovecote.  I knew there were three females on eggs so thought they probably wouldn't go anywhere in a hurry but one of the males was sticking with his mate.  Eventually he flew onto the ground and went for a walk about.  It was like he was trying to play it cool saying "I'm really not making a big deal out of this, I'm just having a stroll" before he finally flew upwards.  The surprise was that the rest of the flock appeared from nowhere and he joined them.  It was like they had been waiting for him.  Well actually they must have been.  They did a big lap of the garden and flew off, leaving the girls sitting on their eggs.

So now I am playing the waiting game hoping they will all come home after a good fly.  I have put the Haven on alert incase they turn up there because that was the last place they were at.  If they go back home to Happisburgh where they came from originally I will never see them again.  I did see two of them fly over the garden about half an hour after they went but I was indoors so couldn't see if the others were about.  I just hope they are all together.  Mind you the girls are all sitting there waiting too!

Update on Pinky and Perky

The news is that the little babies from yesterday are doing OK keeping warm in their brooder at the Haven.  They must have been very cold because it took them ages to digest the seed in their crops but had some supper before bed and "took it like pro's" I am told.  I'm just so glad I had somewhere to take them.  I know this sort of thing will happen again if I am going to let my birds breed occasionally so I am now on the lookout for a cheap secondhand brooder.  It may be an impossible thing to find, I don't know yet.  All they have on EBay are new ones at £250 so not really within budget!



Happiness is a warm bed and a full tummy!



Babysnatching!

The more I had been watching the Doves the more I became convinced it was Mrs Bullyboy who had died.  She never left her babies for more than a minute and even then only to feed and she would be right back on the nest.  Whenever I looked out this morning there was no parent bird on the nest.  All I could see was a wiggly pink back.  I was becoming more and more concerned about them so I rang The Haven and spoke to the experts.  I was told if in doubt bring them in. 

I marched down the garden with a mixing bowl full of the dog's towels in one hand and a kitchen chair in the other.  After a wobbly experience standing on a chair down there yesterday I wasn't especially looking forward to climbing on one again.  The added difficulty was getting it under the net and into the Doves enclosure.  The net is nailed to great lumps of wood and I had to get one high enough with one hand to shove the chair under it with the other.  It wasn't elegant but at least for once no one was watching.  Luckily I managed to climb up without incident and found two darling little pink babies with their eyes still closed.  They were completely exposed and must have been getting cold so I took them down and put them in the mixing bowl to keep warm.

I would have liked to have kept them and looked after them at home but I don't have the equipment or the experience so I drove the poor little things to The Haven, feeling like a baby snatcher, wondering if I had done the right thing.  I had to take Action Dog with me because she had her sore toe amputated yesterday and I didn't want to leave her alone incase she started chewing her bandages so I had a car full of precious cargo. 

When I arrived at The Haven some 35 mins later they were taken and put in a brooder to keep warm.  It seems they were well fed (oh no..guilt!) but at only about a week old they should have had a parent on them all the time to keep them warm so it seems I had done the right thing taking them in.  Oh relief!  I was told that they had a bit of a rattle in their breathing which could indicate a chest infection and would need some medication.  I do hope they survive, they are such sweet little uglybugs, like little dinosaur babies.  They were even making a little cheeping noise.  I named them Pinky and Perky, it was the first thing which came into my head when I was asked what to call them. 

Action Dog had a great time when we were there.  I had to carry her because she was far too interested in the caged birds on the floor when I put her down plus I was concerned about her dressing getting wet.  I have been told it must stay perfectly dry so I am really paranoid, even putting the hairdryer on her other feet if she has been out in the garden incase they soak her bandage.  She has to wear two sandwich bags and a rubber band over the dressing when she goes outside.  The highlight of her visit (for me not for her cos she wasn't amused) was when Woodie the Collared Dove who loves everyone tried to sit on her head.  Poor little dog, she has had a bad week!  Actually, what a week I have had come to think of it!  Monday I found Mrs Bullyboy dead, Wednesday Action Dog had her operation and now Thursday I had to do a mercy dash to save the babies.  I am not sure I want to get up tomorrow just incase!

Losses and gains

I lost one of my Doves the day before yesterday.  They were all fine in the morning, I went out to the pet shop to get them some new food and when I came back one was dead on the floor.  It was still warm, very warm so only just dead a matter of minutes.  There was barely any sign of damage, just two tiny dots, on just above its beak and another to the side.  It can't have been the Sparrowhawk, I wondered if a Stoat had grabbed it through the side of the net and the shock had killed it.  I will never know but it was very sad and left me with the question of who was it that had died.  The trouble with Doves is they really do all look the same.  Whoever it was I was really sad to see one of my friends dead.

I thought at first it was Bullyboy because he was not sitting on the perch outside the nest hole.  Then I started to worry that it might have been Mrs Bullyboy because the bird sitting on the Bullyboy family nest was not sitting in the same way as Mrs Bullyboy.  She always sat facing outwards and all puffed up, keeping her nest warm.  This bird was sitting facing in with it's tail sticking out.  Also Mrs Bullyboy was rarely seen off her nest.  On the very rare occasion I would see the nest without her and go down to try and peep in she would fly back up and sit there glaring at me like I was a babysnatcher.  The past two days the nest has been unattended a few times.

This afternoon was one of those times and I spotted The Hairy Hubby straining his neck trying to see in.  He approached my study window with a big grin on his face.  Apparently he saw two pink bald babies in there.  Typically he saw something before me as per usual!!  I went down there armed with a chair from the kitchen table and my camera.  The Hairy One is much taller than me and he struggled to see in so I knew I would need some extra height.  I am not so keen on standing on things since my recent undignified tumble off the step-stool while trying to rescue a Dove stuck under the net.  Actually that was six weeks ago and I still have the bruise.  I planted the chair on the grass carefully and it sank in over an inch where the grass is so soggy.  Not terribly encouraging.  I climbed carefully up fully aware that The Hairy One was watching out of the kitchen window waiting for me to do ariel acrobatics again.  I could see something pink but it was not moving and not clear, I am pretty sure it must have been babies.  I did try and get a picture but as I tried to focus in the parent flew back in and sat on the nest. 

I am still undecided which parent is left.  My gut feeling says it is Bullyboy because of the change in brooding tactics but was that due to the eggs hatching?  Not having any experience of this I don't know if they brood tiny young differently to eggs.  I am fairly sure it was one of the Bullyboy family though.  I will keep observing and see if I can work it out.  The net comes off on Friday so I will be able to get closer and have a better look then and maybe some photos!

Sparrowhawk v Woodpigeon

There was drama in the garden this afternoon.  I had been working at Wing and a Prayer and had not been home long,  I sat down at the computer with a cup of tea ready to catch up on emails etc when suddenly there was a big CRASH on the window about three feet from my head.  I jumped out of my skin and looked out to see a Sparrowhawk and a Woodpigeon locked in mortal combat. 

The Sparrowhawk got the poor Woody on the ground and proceeded to pluck him ready for dinner, there were feathers everywhere.  I find it amazing how a Sparrowhawk which is a similar size to a Woody, but more slightly built can overpower one so easily.  I know from experience that Woodys can be powerful birds, their wings are really strong yet the Sprawk can bring one down so easily.  Maybe it's like a champion wrestler taking on a large but lardy man.  Although the lardy man would have a weight advantage the wrestler is faster and has the skills to take him down.

Not wishing to have a death on the lawn I opened the window and screamed at the Sparrowhawk, telling him he was a bully and to leave the poor Woody alone.  It's lucky I don't have close neighbours really because I seem to always be hanging out of the window screaming like a fishwife at some creature or other.  More often than not though it's Butterfly the Squirrel eating the Dove's food, the greedy thing.  He runs now as soon as my window opens.  So anyway, as soon as I screamed abuse at him the Sparrowhawk dropped the Woody and flew off fast.  The poor Woody flew off in the other direction at a rate of knots and made his escape into the wood.

I took the flying off strongly as a good sign but still went out into the wood in search of the Woody because from the chunks of feathers on the grass he was obviously injured.  I couldn't find him anywhere despite searching for ages. 

I have seen Woodys and Doves survive terrible injuries at the hands (claws?) of Sparrowhawks.  The damage they can inflict is incredible, they just open the poor Woody like ripping open a tin can with an old fashioned can opener.  However I have also seen Woodys survive injuries like that.  There is one at Wing and a Prayer at the moment who had half his back torn off and his ribs exposed which was walking round the hospital as if he didn't have a care in the world.  A couple of weeks on his skin is starting to granulate and grow across the gaping hole and today we noticed new feathers starting to grow.  Mind you he had his wound cleaned and dressed and is recovering in a nice safe environment with regular food and water.  My poor Woody is taking his chances out in the wood tonight.  Unless he has the sense to come and find me that is.

Things that go nibble in the night

Not so long ago I was gushing about how wonderful it was that the bulbs I planted were coming up and were going to look so beautiful around the garden.  At about the same time I was also wondering what to put out for Muntjac to lure them out of the wood and into my garden.  Well I should be careful what I wish for.  Some rotten Muntjac has eaten all my Tulips!  I went out to check the progress of my new plantlings and found them all chewed neatly off at the base.  Needless to say I am not happy!  I wouldn't mind but the wood is wall to wall with Daffs and the little ratbags haven't touched them, just my Tulips!  It also looks like one of the Pheasants has been trying to dig up my Crocus bulbs.  Maybe this is why there are no plants growing in the garden!

There is now a sign on the fence which states 'All Muntjac must be muzzled before entering'!