Jimi is back and Joey too!

From the

Diary as of 5/27/ – 5/29/09

5/27 Yippee – Jimi appeared again! Having some breakfast. Oh my, his little face looks like Swiss cheese – real holes in his feathers – probably from feeding his little ones? I don’t know.

5/28 Jimi is here again. He is chased by wild Willy who is a real little devil in the meanwhile. So Jimi escaped by flying into my studio, got a bit in panic because he could not find his way out easily again but then calmed down and sat on my working table just like in the past when he still was such a young one. He is so sweet. Now he could eat in peace then he flew off again.

Joey appeared also again. What a joy. Of course he was chased by wild Willy also so I stood at the balustrade, had the saucer with the seeds on the balustrade between my outstreched hands whith a finger outstretched to show Willy that he was not supposed to fight Joey. And joey could eat in peace as well. He pretty understood immediately what I was doing – as well Willi. These birds are soooo intelligent.

5/29 Schlomo and his wife are enjoying the good weather. Erwin has a very special place in the empty flower pot. These piggies love swinging in those pots – this very much reminds me of parrots. Should they have some common habits????

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Look at this little bugger Erwin – he’s got the best place…

And Winnie is taking a sunbath for her beauty. Even a pigeon lady has to watch herself – right? In fact birds are getting rid of potential ecto-parasites when they spread their feathers like this and ly in the sun. The UV-light is cleansing. But I think she just loves the sun after that long winter. Animals are not different from humans in this regard and apparently love the sun as much as we do…

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Wally and Randy, the Baby Pigeons are growing fast (1 week)…

From the

Diary as of 5/23/ – 5/26/09

5/23 – 5/24 The little ones are growing fast – you could nearly see it. Randy will get a white cap – you can see that already from the quills.

Angelo is coming now each day and walks into the living room to the feeding box as if he had not done anything else ever. He is really a very clever young pigeon! Amazing how fast he learns.

Because it was so hot today he lay down on the ground of the balcony in the shadow – like a little dog or cat. Being very content hiding from the sun. How sweet!!!

5/26 Heavy thunderstorm this evening – with heavy winds. Emma, Pete and the Willies made it home safely. Erwin saved himself too here and another one of the visitors who often sit here on the balcony in my empty hanging flower pots. They all were quite frightened – you could see that. Head between their shoulders and making themselves as small as possible. All sitting there one beside the other, quietly without any fighting.

Jimi is missing again since 19.5., also Joey did not appear for a couple of days – since 22.5. Wild Willy always chases him away when he tries to get to the food or water bowl. So I suppose he – Joey – has given up for the moment and Jimi as well.

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Willy and Winnie introduced their little Son: Angelo

From the

Diary as of 5/18/ – 5/22/09

5/18 This morning Willy and Winnie introduced their son to us at 7:45 in the morning.  We called him immediately Angelo -Wow! the little guy was so recognizable as Willy’s son without  any doubt – totally white head and white wing feathers – amazing. He was soooo beautiful and so incredibly graceful. Instantly I grabbed the camera and made those photos as you can see below.

5/19/ – 5/21 Angelo is coming every day now!
Jimi appears in the morning to get his seeds – his little face is all ruined – probably by his demanding baby mongers or from fighting. I really don’t know.

Winnie laid an egg – # 2 – in the new nest I made for the Willy people – I removed it. Now they are happily courting again.  She regularly seems to lay one egg only! Maybe it’s her youth??

Willy seems to have a competition with Pete. Who can coo the loudest and who will be the chief of the balcony. Ridiculous – as if there wasn’t enough place for half a dozen piggies!
Winnie and Willy are both sleeping on the balcony now! Also Erwin – mostly in the basket on the board.

5/22 Sweet Angelo was here again – he drank water from the bath tub. He was here quite a while and then flew away with uncle Joey! What fun – he such an excellent flyer….

I had Wally on my hand today – so small still – but he seems to be very healthy. He has white claws! Emma is protecting them very much. She comes into the livingroom to get her seeds – as in the past. And then walking off again to do her own business….

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We have Twins!

From the

Diary as of 5/16/ – 5/17/09

5/16 WE HAVE TWINS! You won’t believe this but Wally and Randy – jumped out of their egg shells today, very early in the morning – around 4 °clock the first one and only a few hours later came the second! That’s why we called them twins. Now I have the problem that I do not know who is Wally and who is Randy. We will see in a few days who fits the name best.

Is this happening in pigeon lives that both babies hatch nearly the same time????? I knew it – we have some very special little guys!

AND Jimi is back today. He just appeared and asked to be fed. What a sweetie – he knows where his real home is! I am very relieved that he is doing okay. His beak and his whole little face looks really worn out – apparently he has some begging mouths to feed. It really looks as if some baby beaks are always trying to stick theirs into pappa’s. But it also could be that he is fighting all the time with other pigeon guys. I have seen him once with a “bloody nose” – which means that his beak’s knob was really incrusted with blood. Yet after 2 days theses injuries were healed. Thank heavens.

I really don’t quite get it anyway that “our” little philosopher – as I called him while he was sitting on my easel – has become such a macho and is battling with other guys. He always used to avoid any conflicts and rather flew away.

5/17 Wally and Randy’s second day on this world. Today I watched Pete already feeding them. That’s early. Both seem to be in good shape and already very vivid!!! So sweet both of them!!

And soooooo tiny!

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They are knocking on the Door…

From the

Diary as of 5/9/ – 5/15/09

5/9 -  No-one will believe me – in the meanwhile “our” piggies (Willy, Schlomo, Joey) have following habit:  when they are hungry they look through the window whether someone (of us) is visible, and if yes, they fly or rather jump against the balcony door and scratch with their feet on the glass – as if screaming “I am hungry! feed me!” This is happening ever again and is so funny.  You can even the traces from their feet on the glass (only a bit dirt no scratches) and only those three guys are doing this – not the girls – what does this tell you?

Pete and Emma are not part of this feeding frenzy – they prefer to eat somewhere else or take the few seeds which I throw into the nest. Apparently they are fed up by the quarreling and fighting and want to have their peace. They don’t want to lose their dignity! Understandable??????

5/9 – 5/14 – Jimi is missing since a couple of days. He does not appear at the breakfast feeding. I thinks he’s got a new girlfriend or Hillary is taking care for little ones. I really don’t know where he is nor what happened to her.

Schlomo and his wife are behaving very aggressive at the moment, want to be fed every hour or so and are fighting a lot with “our” kiddos and Pete! I have to chase them away from time to time because they eat everything that they can find and “our” piggies don’t get anything anymore. Probably they have to feed babies as well.

Therefore I decided to make a kind of foodhouse from a box so that “our” pigeons can eat in peace because it is much easier to defend the entrance to the bowl with the seeds (see photo with Willy below)

5/15 - Since yesterday Joey does not appear at breakfast either. And Jimi is still missing! Maybe Joey has finally found someone – I have no clue what is happening here. And as usual I am a bit worried. We care for “our” pigeons as if they were our pets…

Schlomo and Schlomskaja are behaving better – maybe it’s the bad weather, cold and wet at the moment which drives them crazy. If humans are having a bad mood why not the birds?

I also made a kind of private separée for Willy and Winnie with a larger box above a bowl for plants which I filled with soil and bark pieces and some straw. I realized that they love to nest in the straw which can be easily taken away for cleaning purposes if necessary.

You must admit that it does look neat – doesn’t it? This is proud Willy examining his new house.

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Schlomskaja is back and we have a new Sleeper in Pigeoncity: Erwin

From the

Diary as of 5/1/ – 5/7/09

5/1 – 5/6 All our balcony piggies have become very cheeky and know exactly how to behave in order to get a snack. In the meanwhile they jump – feet first – at the window, flap their wings – looks as if  a little dog is begging for food, standing on his hind legs, wiggling his tail and scratching with his paws. Oh my – the next time I think -  they are going to make noises and start whimpering…

Most of the time they are very patient in the morning, wait on the balustrade until I lie on the floor before the open balcony door (to make myself a little bit comfortable too) and feed them by hand. They know exactly that I am going to clean their mess (poop) mfirst and then they get their seeds, peas, lentils, corn, wheat, sometime a bit  rice, pearl barleys. They have to understand and they do (my suspicion).

Also we have a new visitor/sleeper in pigeoncity: little Erwin. Jimi no longer sleeps on the balcony during the night – instead the new little visitor took over Jimi’s place. He’s a dark pigeon, with some fluffy feathers always sticking out of his back. The strange thing is he never comes for feeding – he just wants to sleep in pigeoncity.

5/7 Schlomskaja is here  again! Apparently she has been sitting on eggs and now they have squabs somewere. Both, Schlomo and Schlomskaja, are very hungry all the time – no wonder when you have to feed babies who are always begging for food.

You see the white little fluffy feathers that stick out of his back?

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Pete’s 4 kiddos eating from my hand – peacefully together

From the

Diary as of 4/28/ – 4/30/09

4/28 Today they were bathing like crazy again – even in the drinking pot which I had to refill 3 times. There was a funny scene with Schlomo and another dark pigeon which so much wanted to take a bath in the drinking pot as well. S/he was begging Schlomo with that wiggling of the wings, running in circles around the drinking bowl, jumping from foot on the other like dancing, only to motivate Schlomo to leave the bowl.  It was so sweet and Schlomo of course was stubborn.

I also saw a pigeon looking like Hillary but I am not sure whether she was the one – I doubt it.

A lot of dark youngsters came visiting pigeon city today – it looked like a youngster’s meeting club….

4/29 No-one is going to believe this, but all 4 kiddos were eating from my hand this morning – 4 little heads popping into my half open hand to catch the goodies:  peas, lentils, sweet corn, wheat and sunflower seeds.

The funny thing was, when they ate from my hand they didn’t fight at all – if I had put a little bowl on the floor,  they would have started fighting again, so jealous about food they are. You would think that they are the worst enemies – especially Willy and Jimi…

4/30 Emma has laid her second egg tonight  – #22 – I will let them hatch this time – I am very curious what comes out this time – new shower caps????

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Emma laid Egg #21 since March 08!

From the

Diary as of 4/25/ – 4/27/09

4/25 I have the suspicion now that Jimi has lost his wife Hillary and that they are NOT breeding. Jimi is always alone and I did not see any pigeon that looks similar to Hillary. In the meanwhile she should have appeared on the balcony but Jimi comes always alone. Maybe that’s the reason why he became quite aggressive towards other pigeons.

Schlomo’s wife has not appeared for many days now either. Either she is breeding or something has happened to her. Schlomo also always appears alone. I have no idea what happened, whether both pigeon ladies are dead or found another husband or just disappeared or are sitting on hatchlings…

Joey seems to be alone still also – oh my,  so many lonesome pigeon guys – so the only pigeon couple, that is definitely breeding, is Willy and Winnie. This proves that it is not soo easy as anyone thinks for feral pigeons to complete a breeding cycle. In my opinion this is the explanation why the population of the local pigeons here does not increase. Hard winter and other problems keeps the flock stable and the population on one level. The flock that is circling here is really small – not more than 10 – 15 birds.

4/27 Tonight Emma has laid egg #21!  I found another egg dead in a corner of the balcony – probably Winnie’s – she must have lost it after Willy and Winnie could not return to their nest yet for a new breeding cycle – because the fletchlings must be still there….

Maybe that’s why she lost her head…

well – not really – but it could have been – right?

She is a real sweetie and reading her magazines every day…

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Winnie and Willy sleeping in Pigeon City again!

From the

Diary as of 4/22/ – 4/24/09

4/22/ – 4/23 – Winnie and Willy are sleeping together on the balcony in pigeon city again – so their babies apparently are grown enough to be left alone. They appear often during the day and eat like crazy. They are probably eating for four!

Emma has left her plaster eggs. She realizes quicker and quicker when the eggs will not hatch. Now she is flirting with Pete again. So there will be some new eggs soon again. Oh my – she has become an egg-laying-machine. But what can I do?

At least I could take off the roof of the nest, loosen up all the soil and clean it up a bit for the next “breeding cycle”.

4/24 – Tonight Jimi was sleeping in pigeon city and Willy was also here but alone – without Winnie.  And little Erwin was sleeping in pigeon city as well.  Apparently Pete did not want to chase him away. Winnie apparently slept with her kiddos again  in order to keep them warm because of the very cold wind (my assumption). Even Pete and Emma were huddling together – although I have never seen them sleeping so close together! Pete normally does not like it when Emma sits so close! He is very peculiar about his sleeping place. He is the patron! But the night was so cold and windy that he apparently needed Emma to keep the warmth. Sounds so humanlike – doesn’t it?

During the days we had quite a few pigeons which apparently chose our balcony as a safe harbour against the cold and the wind. So we suddenly had quite a lot of travellers here:

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I am overrun! No more! Have to take Action!

From the

Diary as of 4/20/ – 4/21/09

I had to change the breakfast routine! Instead of putting the flowerpot saucers on the balcony floor I am feeding now from hand. The point was that on some mornings I had more than 20 pigeons on the balcony coming for feeding. This was not my plan and this could not continue if I wanted to be a responsible pigeon lover. Besides leaving all that poop which got a bit too much to clean off, Pete got crazy because he had to chase off too many poachers. I had to stop feeding them all. So I decided, to only feed “our” pigeons, when they appeared, from my hand.

I also did not want to make them dependant on the balcony which would not have been natural. The weather had become better, the temperatures acceptable – so they had to fly to seek their own food. No good if wild birds become dependant on a single source.

What I am now doing is, opening the balcony door and lying on my belly with the seeds in my hand. Nearly without any hesitation Willy and Winnie, Jimi and Joey appeared right at the beginning and picked the seeds out of my hand directly – as if they had never done anything else. I cannot do much about having still the one or other little poacher (foreign pigeons) coming to steal some seeds from my hand but the quantity has reduced dramatically. Apparently they all understand now that the cockaigne is over. Sorry piggies but you are all eating the hair from my head. This is not going to work and I had to make a point.

I am not going to maroon “our”  little pigeon family for you guys! Pete is going beserk otherwise and will end up in the loony bin. I cannot take responsibility for this!

Feeding from hand is such a lovely feeling while you can feel their soft feathers during cramming their little heads into my hand. They eat very fast and you can hear little grunting noises or even squeeking, snuffling, while they cannot breathe so easily eating so fast. It is very funny!

See how this is working:

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