And now a little sad news. I didn’t want to pollute the picture post above since it was a happy post. But whereas little Frankie is all healthy and wiggly, a day old now, I regret to tell you the other squab did not make it. Tried to hatch out, almost made it, then just died. The hole is big enough that I can see it inside. I can actually touch its little bill. But it is lifeless. Dunno what happened. I removed it this morning, as you don’t want it broiling out there in the hellish heat we have this time of year. Poor little thing.
That would have been Dale, but since it did not officially hatch we’ll reserve the name yet again for the next clutch. Since Dale can be a man or a woman’s name, we’ll use it for the first hatched next time.
But again, Frankie seems healthy and happy. One day old today (Sunday).
I just love the white pidgees. They are so beautiful. Most of the pigeons around here are differents shades of blue, gray, or some have patches of dull green. Once in a while I see a white one, but they are rare.
I set up my Flickr account just for this thread, so I’ll add this that I’ve already posted in the from Arnold Winkelried’s Picture thread:
Me in a field of pandas. I’m top middle, standing alone facing the camera, wearing shorts and a black T-shirt, hands in my pockets. The pandas are part of the “1600 Pandas” project that is a collaboration between the World Wildlife Fund and a French artist and which has traveled the world these past eight years. It’s in Bangkok now. We visited the exhibit at the Central Embassy shopping center last night (Tuesday night). There are indeed 1600 pandas present. Too bad we weren’t able to catch the exhibit at Sanam Luang, with Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the emerald Buddha) in the background, as pictured in the photo at the top of the linked story.
I’ll try to have a few more pidgee photos up in the coming week, before we head upcountry to our friends’ house for the Songkran holiday, the Thai New Year that runs from from April 13-15 each year (although everything pretty much shuts down for an entire week). Meanwhile, The Bully took an active dislike to four-month-old Mochi and chased him away for good it seems. Lydia turns a year old later this month, but we haven’t seen her for a couple or three nights now. She may finally be off starting her own family, who knows. We still have six-month-old Sophie, never misses a night, and five-month-old Matthew most of the time. Beau of course, 41 days old today (Sunday). And Mom and Dad. Plus little Frankie, nine days old and seemingly healthy. Looks like he’ll be another whitey but maybe not so pure, maybe more a Geri-like pattern such as Sophie sports.
And I forgot little Clarice, three months old now. She’s here at night too. And guess who’s horny again? Dad’s been making mating noises all day, and the couple have been screwing all afternoon.
Some sad news about Beau. Tuesday night, at age 43 days, he started appearing a bit listless, even more so the following morning. I could easily catch him and pick him up. No external signs of any sort of virus, but it could be something was happening internally, whether the virus or something else it’s impossible to say. We have a little medicine left from before, but he flew away before I could give him any and has not returned since. It’s been two days now. We fear the worst. A pity, because he was one of the more beautiful whities.
Little Frankie though, two weeks old today (Friday), is doing well. Will definitely be the gray-white-ish combo of Sophie and Geri.
Our time here is growing shorter. The wife had her visa interview at the embassy yesterday, and the main thing holding it up, apart from some minor document corrections, is my lack of a domicile in the US. They even canceled her Tourist Visa to the US yesterday, saying now she was in the system for an Immigrant Visa, that had to go. That means she’s pretty much guaranteed an Immigrant Visa as long as I can provide proof of an address for us in the US, but meanwhile she’s barred from entering the country. I saw my dentist yesterday, and he assured me my work should be finished no later than the first week of July, so I’m looking at a mid-July flight to Honolulu. The wife will stay here until I can get things sorted out and her visa approved, but we’re 98% certain we’ll be selling the condo. The poor guys out there, we’re going to have to come up with a gentle way of weaning them off of us. The parents especially seem like family now, here three years next month.
Assuming we sell the place – and again, we’re 98% certain we are – we’ll probably use an agent. We’ll tell the agent to tell prospective buyers that there’s a lot of bird life in the neighborhood. Maybe let them decide whether to put up netting. Even if we were to put up netting ourselves, Ladyboy and The Bully have learned to come moon at us in the dining-room window when we have those curtains open but the ones to the balcony closed, heh. (We close the balcony curtains as a sign they’re not getting fed now, but they know the dining room window is us too.)
There’ll be some test days for the pidgees coming up, as we’re planning several short trips before I head out. We’ll be gone for a few days at some friends’ house upcountry next week for the Thai New Year. We plan one long weekend upcountry together, then I might do some beach time when the wife is in Myanmar for a few days in June (related to a project she’s doing). And I’d like to see Angkor Wat one more time before leaving, so we’ll do up to a week there if we can squeeze that in. So we may have a few drop out while getting impatient for us to show up and feed them. Not the parents though, but they’ll start to get used to us being gone.
I wish you would both be coming through Kansas. I’d love to meet you both as well. You could get introduced to the local Audobon chapter, of which my sister is president. Your story of the pidgees would be interesting to them, and I could show you around.
Thank you, I appreciate that. Unfortunately, Kansas is just a little far.
Meanwhile … we have another egg! Laid Saturday, late afternoon. We expect the second one today (Monday). We thought she was ready to lay, because she started hanging out in the flower box appearing a little sluggish. And then, a big giveaway, The Bully started standing guard by the box, like a little soldier on duty, so he knew too. And they’re still doing the deed, I guess just to make sure. Did it again last night.
The new clutch will be Dale and Cookie (Cookie after that cute little penguin). We’re heading upcountry tomorrow for the Thai New New Year and won’t be back until the weekend, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to log on again after today. Tomorrow morning may be busy.
We’re going to put extra water out when we leave , but that still won’t last long in this heat. We’re at the height of the hot season, and it’s pretty brutal outside right now. Hot as blazes even at night, worse in the day. No rains expected for at least another month, maybe two, and that’s only for certain lucky areas since we’ve been undergoing one of the severest droughts in recent memory these past couple of years. The farmers are really suffering. And the government has even asked people to put water out for bird life that may be finding it hard to find any. Fortunately our complex has an open-air 10th-floor swimming pool, and I see pigeons, doves and some other birds stop by there all the time for a drink. The chlorine can’t be good for them, but they don’t seem to mind. Plus the mansion next door to us has a fountain in the yard. So ours should be able to find water until we get back. They’ll be a little put out about no midnight snackies, but I guess they’ll have to get used to that.
Frankie is 17 days old today and a little cutie. He’s sharing the box with the new egg of course. If I can’t get photos up today, I’ll do so after we’re back.
And here we have Henry eating lunch with his grandson Beau, although “eating with” may be stretching it, as Beau had to keep his distance from Grandpa or else Grandpa would attack. This is my last photo of Beau before he started looking a bit ill and then disappeared. He started acting sick three days after this photo and disappeared the next day. Henry will turn seven years old in a few months.
And just to let you know, Ladyboy did lay her second egg right on schedule today, two days after the first one. So that’s Dale and Cookie out there. Hatchings should start about April 26.
The Bully has become furious with Sophie and tonight chased him away completely, just like he did with Mochi. I think this is Sophie’s first night away in his 6-1/2 month life. Must have something to do with protecting the new eggs, but Matthew and Clarise are still out there.
Saturday morning and we just returned home after four days in northeastern Thailand, visiting friends over the Thai New Year, which runs from April 13-15 each year. Ladyboy and The Bully were glad to see us. They seemed none the worse for wear but still appreciated fresh water and a little food. We’re at the height of the hot season now, and this is honestly the worst one I can remember. I can’t say what the official temperatures are, but readings of about 115 degrees Fahrenheit are common right now nationwide, with unbearable humidity. During the hot part of the days, we mostly stayed holed up in rooms that were air conditioned, which is what we did as soon after getting home this morning (after tending to the pidgees), barricading ourselves in the bedroom with the air con running on high.
Frankie, 22 days old now, has grown and can jump into and out of the flower box. Good thing too, because the night before we left he started falling out while trying to get the parents to feed him and kept doing it right through the next morning. We know he must have done it again after we left, spending at least a couple days on the floor. Frankie’s not showing any signs of disease. Looks like he’ll be a copy of poor Rudolph.
It was a weird Sunday. A swarm of bees engulfed our balcony in the morning. It turns out they made a hive just below our balcony. Other bees made another hive on the other side of the building. Not sure why they got all active. But the pidgees were freaked out, you could tell. None of them got stung, but most fled anyway including little Frankie, who at 30 days of age had just started flying a day or two before. Mama stayed bravely on her eggs. Now it’s late Monday afternoon, and no sign of Frankie still! Building management took care of the hives, and all is well again now, but during the course of the day, it grew to a massive size.
Looking out the bedroom window this morning, I could see the balcony two floors below. The residents have put out some small trees. On top of one was a dove. That’s cute, I thought. Doves and pigeons are cousins, and we have a lot of doves in the neighborhood too. In fact, what I feed the pidgees is actually marketed as dove food, but they love it. Anyway, I looked later, and the dove was gone, allowing me to see that it had actually been sitting in a nest. and inside that nest was … you got it. an egg! The parent has been coming and going. Just one egg still, and I’m assuming there will be two eggs like with pigeons. It may have just been laid, and I’m not sure the residents know. I took pictures, of course. Man, our condominium building is just a bird factory.
And we have another squab. Dale hatched this morning (Wednesday morning). Wiggly and healthy. The other egg is showing some cracks.
Frankie returned yesterday after being scared away by the bee infestation on Sunday. Today he’s 33 days old and a handsome little fella.
The doves that have set up house two balconies below still have only one egg I noticed late this afternoon. Being closely related to pigeons, I would have thought there’d be a second egg. Maybe coming soon. The doves have noticed me staring down at them and seem a little nervous about that.
Good news about the squab, and it’s cool to hear about the doves. In the time you have left will you keep an eye on the latter, to see what the other folks do about it?
And we have the second squab, Cookie! Hatched this morning (Thursday morning). I have a cute photo of her butt still stuck in one eggshell half.
I’ve noticed light from the unit two floors down at night, so I think the residents there must be aware there’s a dove out there. We’ve noticed they’ve kept a lot of plants and small trees out there, a real garden, but this is the first time we’ve seen a dove set up house.
As I’ve posted elsewhere on the Board, August 1 will be the day I fly out of Bangkok for good, although the wife will still be here for a couple months more. I have secured a place in Honolulu’s Nuuanu Valley, north of downtown. But that’s just temporary. Once I can lease an apartment, the wife should be able to have her visa approved. Employment wouldn’t hurt either, but we should have enough to last awhile in any event, although Hawaii has a way of draining one’s resources.
It’s Thursday morning, and Dale and Cookie are eight and seven days old, respectively. Healthy and happy despite it being hot as blazes outside these days. It looks now like they’ll be another couple of whities. All we have at night now usually is four-month-old Clarice. Dad successfully chased Sophie away at night, although Soph always hangs around for part of the day, so he must have set up a home somewhere close by.
The hole is big enough that I can see it inside. I can actually touch its little bill. But it is lifeless. Dunno what happened. I removed it this morning, as you don’t want it broiling out there in the hellish heat we have this time of year. Poor little thing.
(We close the balcony curtains as a sign they’re not getting fed now, but they know the dining room window is us too.)