freedom to fly

Today at long last Walter the pigeon went into an aviary to learn to fly. in the wild I think he would actually have fledged a week or so ago but we were still feeding him and we had yet to build an aviary. In the end it didnt cost too much which is a great relief since as usual we are skint! Anyway I woke poor M today ( he is on afternoon shift ) and he got up just after dawn poor dear and is probably knackered right now diving his forklift but anyway Walter went out at around 8am. That was the time it took me to get M to get out of bed with several cups of tea to help him. Walter came out of teh cockateil cage eventually when we were not there. He actually sat preening when we opened the door and stood waiting but in the end we gave up and left him to it. Oh and we now have a green ring on one leg so we will hopefully know him should he continue to live in this area. He has some branches for perches and leylandii cuttings on top of the wire above hi for shelter. We also have some corrugated plastic to go up tomorrow over one end. Ideally it would have been there before he went in but really it was urgent to get him out of the cage now and get him to fly. He hasnt much uplift yet but hopefully will improve over coming weeks and eventually we will release him. And I want to cry! I should be happy really to release him, but I cant help it. I will miss him but I do not agree with him being in a cage. After all when we found him I really did not expect him to survive and he is now almost grown. I like to think he may stick around but somehow I doubt this will really happen. This is after all real life not hollywood! He is not quite as big as a woodie yet but about the size of a ring neck dove and he will grow for a few months yet I should think. I have not been able to find out much about woodies - how long they live etc so do not know much at all really. Anyway I really think Walter has a very good chance of survival into adult hood and to maybe to breeding now. Certainly he or she will fly free one day soon.

West mids vegan fair and Celtic New Year

WM vegan fair was a great success. Surprisingly we sold out of some products within the first 10 minutes which has never happened before. We did do a 10% discount offer if spending £10 but I cannnot get over the number of folk who bought 10 or more bars of soap. Amazing. Most were previous customers which made it even better since it finally proves there is demand and I have a good product. And this despite there being several other soap and cosmetics companies. Well I feel we have a future.
As for my Walter...........here he is yesterday on Halloween. I have to say this was taken after we fed him in the kitchen and I do feel so sorry for the bars around him. He will be 40 days old next Saturday and he is finally going into a flight/ avairy for the rest of winter. The parents feed until they are around 35-40 days. So far Walter is hardly eating unless we feed which is worrying but maybe he is just lazy and while we continue he will not feed himself so once the 40 days is up he will have to feed himself. By the end of winter he will with a bit of luck be strong enough and good enough at flying to survive and be free but also to breed and live a long life. We still have to ring him but do not want to do if he is still growing. Maybe this is just silly but I would hate to hurt him. He is very tame which is worrying but I reckon a few months practicing flying in the garden with little contact form us will probably mean this will fade. Sad really but better for him or her. Since M decided to name the poor thing Walter it sort of follows it will be a she bird! Woodies are apparently menat to be very shy of humans so hopefully thsi will be restored and he will be able to mingle with his own kind and learn from them. Halloween was alet down really ( despite me having tights with spiders webs on them !) since M had to go to work last night. We tried out the Golden rod wine but it was a bit of a dissapointment. Very sweet. I followed the recipe exactly. Next year I will use less sugar. It reminds me of the syrup you get with fruit salad but with alcohol! Anyway today is Celtic new Year or the month of Ruis ( according to Rupert Brooke) and the second day of Samhain which is I believe 31st October - 1st November. Interestingly I have read the celts actually celebrated 31st October and 2nd November and on Ruis itself they fasted and stayed in doors! Still depends what you read I suppose.
Now I have to get round to sorting out my van. After saturday the whole thing is a mess with all sorts of things in the wrong boxes and it needs totally sorting out so today is and "admin" day. Maybe I will even get time to do the books. I am definitely sorting the van anyway. Then off to the bank and to the farm shop to buy some wild bird seed ( lots!) and chicken food. Maybe I should just go for it and become an animal sanctuary?

Walter the wood pidgeon having breakfast

This is Walter today after he had his breakfast. You will have to ignore the mess that is me. The white bits are scrambled egg. Laid this morning by my Muriel. Walter seems to understand when we get him out of the cage we are going to feed him. I just need 2 hands to open his beak and M puts the icing syringe into it and pumps the food in. Walter just sits and lets us do all this. To begin with we had to hold him down but now he is too big for that anyway and there is no need. Its loads easier than it was 2 days ago. i suppose even a baby bird soon learns where the food comes from even if it does have humans as surrogates! You can see he is slightly worryingly tame. I really have not encouraged this and we only handle him to feed him. He sleeps outside but protected from cats in a cage. From what I understand which is not much really he is now about 26 days old so should fly off on Saturday or Sunday. Its a pain cos I really need to work Saturday but cannot just leave him to starve if he is still here or not now we have brought him this far. We are not working sunday anyway cos its Ms birthday.Last year we worked it and were so busy I forgot to even say happy birthday till lunchtime and I am not going to have that happen to him again. Anyway the way its going if we still have Walter he is likely to fly away on sunday. I will be sorry but happy when this happens cos he is a wild bird and should not be in captivity. I will just put food out daily. I do anyway for the wild birds but not usually every day and this will change things a bit now I think. I like to think he will live to breed next year and maybe no stupid human will cut down his home! Still it was an accident and he or she has a whole winter to survive yet! Going by the large numbers of blackberries, elder sloes etc its going to be a very long cold one too!

Walter the wood pidgeon

Well M just had to name it didnt he! Its walter - unoriginally and is doing very well it seems. Thanks to the eggs from my Hens. At least they are not all wasted I spose. We do not eat eggs at all, the dogs do sometimes and the neighbours are just to nasty to give to especially since we realised one of them has a saw that was stolen from our shed. Anyway Walter the pidgeon has grown. he/she is practising flying more and more and hopefully not too long into the future walter will take to the skies and be a free bird as he was meant to be. He climbed up my arm onto my shoulder when we fed him about an hour ago - cute but not good from a maintaining wild status point of view. I had to wake M who is on nights this week cos it takes 2 of us to feed the little creature and he was moaning for dinner. He ate 2 eggs yesterday and I reckon wil probably manage 4 today. His tail is growing well now and he has proper wings but still has some bits of baby fluff. I shall be sad to see him go but the sooner the beter cos winter is close now and I worry he will not survive the cold and if he does not fledge soon he will be doomed. My writing wages have just arrived so off to the bank in a minute to pay them in! Cant wait. The rest of this week was a disaster. I have just done the books as well and it looks pretty bad. Maybe I should do a proper writing course. Would that mean I sell more tho?