It is hot hot hot…

From the

Diary as of 7/31/2008

Winnie is such a sweetie and I am sure she is the girl. You can realize that birdies have their little problems too when it’s hot like this. They actually don’t do very much but are loitering in a place that is a bit dark, cool and simply safe. What could be better than my balcony where the hot sun is gone after lunch…

Tryin’ to make oneself comfortable….

Life is a balancing act….

rufflin’ feathers might help against the heat – well, they cannot simply take off their feather coats….

Pete’s lovely iridescent neck feathers…a beautiful guy and a wonderful caring father…

(starting with the molt – that’s why his feathers look a bit ruffled…)

4 Weeks old and First Flight…

From the

Diary as of 7/29/ and 7/30/2008

The days are still very hot. The whole family is taking a bath on the balustrade in the big green bowl. Two crows were passing by and Winnie got a shock and …took off. I nearly got a heart attack because I could not see where and whether he had landed somewhere.

One hour later I could recognize him on the opposite building and was so happy that nothing had happened to him. It is always a critical moment for birds when they take their first flight. Easily they can be trapped in some net when they are in panic. And they easily panic when they have no experinece.

Late in the afternoon he came back to his sleeping place. I was soooooooo relieved

Next day Jimi took his first flight too. He is a bit more careful than Winnie I think because he always seems to think before he does something. At least so it appears to me.

Later on I saw both kiddos on the opposite building. They are having a blast with their new freedom!!!!

From this night on they slept all 4 of them on the sideboard just as Willy and Joey did a couple of weeks ago. Such a sweet picture: parents and the youngsters – they are no babies any more now – sleeping on the board. They are 4 weeks old now!

Jimi having a one-on-one with Daddy – grown up boy now!

And here is Winnie having a nap with Paps:

And Pete relaxing from all the excitements and by the way – it is much too hot to have too many activities…

and look at Jimi – he’s become such an elegant pigeon with a subtle but beautiful feather coat. The markings are absolutely symmetrical and perfect!

The Breakfast Orgy…

From the

Diary as of 7/28/2008

Each morning we will have the same breakfast orgy. While Willy and Joey get their breakfast usually on the balcony balustrade – while Pete is grumbling in dismay and would love to chase them away but I keep him off while showing him the red flag (the red cover of the little plastic box) – breakfast for Pete, Emma, Winnie and Jimi goes like this:

I shake the box when I get up (mostly the pigeons are already loitering on the balustrade – these little buggers know exactly when I get up normally) after I have openend the balcony door. Then I take the red lid off the box put the box on the floor near to the door and then place the lid back loosely on the box. All four birdies come in. Regularly Emma is the first but then she sees that the box is seemingly closed and she waits for Pete to open it. The two youngsters follow. Pete jumps in, one heavy push (looks like a sword fighter who kills his enemy) with the beak and the lid flies off the box! He learned this in a test we were trying on him a while ago. Very clever guy!!!

And then the orgy starts – four little pigeons diving their heads into a tiny plastic box…

A Pigeon on my Head…

From the

Diary as of 7/27/2008

Winnie and Jimi start coming into the living room. They are very curious now and soooo cute. It is such a great joy to watch how they examinate everything that’s in their reach.

I have started to whistle and you would not believe it but Jimi flew on my arm. A little later Winnie had to copy her brother and came on my arm as well. This is so adorable and I just feel happy happy happy….

Each morning it’s playing time now and the babies are very trusty. Even when the parents are giving warning signals on the balustrade – because a crow is flying near by or sitting on the opposite building – both babies come running inside to hide here instead of in the corner of the balcony.

And both babies consider my back as something nice to climb on …

and Jimi is the cheaky of course – who considers my head to be a kind of scenic point…while Winnie takes a little snack

And also these days we had some visitor again on the balcony: Aunt Frieda, the black beauty. Look – she is really pretty:

Btw – I am not worried at all to be so close to the babies now as I know that they will loose their closeness as soon as they start to go their own way and I will not be able to touch them any more, which is really good because they shall be and remain free feral pigeons!!

Pictures like the following will soon be history:

The first Bath…

From the

Diary as of 7/26/2008

The aggressions are down a bit – especially as the babies are getting bigger now they are not as vulnerable any more and they start to defend themselves.

Willy an Joey still come to the food swan and take their breakfast. It is very sweet that they come in the morning around the time when I wake up and wait on the balustrade for their share of the beloved sunflower seeds. I have realized that they are less jealous now on the new babies, Winnie and Jimi, although they still cannot stand it when Jimi and Winnie are coming along to be fed with sunflower seeds as well…

These days the temperature is very high and Jimi and Winnie are taking their first bath: