Thursday 27 September 2007

G'Day, I took some pictures to share of our newest family members.
Above. Mummy ring neck dove on the first day her babies hatched.
Two days old, look how full their crops are. I reckon they about doubled in size from when they first hatched.
Mum and her babies, just short of 2 weeks old.Their feathers have fluffed out and are thicker now than when this pic was taken
This is the larger of the two babies. I sat it in the feed dish to look at and get a closer picture.

My baby daughter, being 18, almost 19 is back in Wagga tonight asserting her independence as 18 year old daughters rightly may wish to do, so, I get a turn on the puter for a change.
I worked today, under difficulty as I have done something nasty to my neck, it hurts. The only thing I can remember is twisting it around when trying to reverse my car on Wednesday morning. It annoyed me all night and I had to get up twice to take more painkillers. So this morning I felt pretty dopey and stiff and sore and I gave in to the anti inflammatorys. I have managed to take a break of 2 weeks from them. Ah well, as we get older....... Thing is I don't think I will be able to hold out until I turn 60 when I will be able to collect on my superannuation scheme savings for which the govt. has set an age limit.
Please say a prayer for baby Kate. She is the youngest child of an acquaintance of mine in our town. She is just 10 months old and has a malignant tumor on her kidney and has been rushed to Sydney for treatment, which will involve surgery and chemotherapy. Good thing is she will have no memory of the trauma when she hopefully gets well in a few years time. Not so her poor Mum and Dad.
Last night I went to the lead lighting class and my first piece is now together. I just have to finish the soldering and clean it up. The next thing I have to do is work out a design for a mirror and surround. Not easy I imagine.
The baby ring neck doves have grown amazingly quickly. They are now covered in white feathers except for their head which is still baldy. Their beaks are out of proportion to the rest or their body. They seem to have been born with full size beaks and are waiting for the rest of their body to grow and catch up to them. They are 3 weeks old today. They are very placid birds and don't seem to mind being handled. The adult birds are quite tame as well. When I caught them and put them in the cage I caught them by hand easily. Mummy bird is still feeding them, I have seen her feeding them both at once. One baby is bigger than the other. I don"t know if that is because of its sex or because it is the bossier of the 2 at feed time.
The baby english blackbird we tried to rescue didn"t survive learning to fly and I found it dead on the other side of the yard to where its nest was. Rotten Rufus most likely got it after all.

1 comment:

Merle said...

G'day Linda May Nice photo of the dove and chicks. I hope your neck is better
very soon and glad you and your mother enjoy reading some of my posts. I hav a
grandson at the Army camp near Wagga.
So sad to hear about baby Kate, and I pray she will recover from the tumour.
Nice to see you again Linda. Take care,
Love, Merle.