Here's some of this and that from the last couple weeks while I'm still recovering.
First, Pierre is still missing. We are nearing 3 weeks since I last saw "my boy". He was here all that week, and the week before. I don't mark every day, just when I notice he's not come in for a few days, and then mark the last day I saw him.
I won't give up hope on his return but things are different this time with his disappearance. Seeing his missus daily, numerous times some days, and she's had another suitor following her in on occasion. That is something new and I am not happy about. I know there's not a thing I can do about it but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
Crappy photo of the missus (behind) and her new friend up front. I've been photographing at night and some mornings I forget to switch all my settings back like auto-focus.
Come to think of it as I key this, he's not been around here for about a week now either. Even her coming alone day after day is unsettling to me and makes me think the worst case scenario. A reality, one day, I know will happen, that Pierre won't be coming back. He has disappeared for over 50 days in the past so let's not give up hope despite what my gut is telling me.
No regrets for the hundreds of selfies with Pierre over the last 5 years.
To many he may be "just a Pigeon" but to bond with any animal is a privilege and a blessing. They are genuine. May I repeat what I tell people these days "You will always know where you stand with a Pigeon" and of course any animal for that matter.
Jersey also has a male suitor now. The brute that has been following her around the last number of weeks. I still don't get his aggression to peck her on the back of the head like he does. He is very rough. Then I catch them in smooching moments and, uh, other physical *stuff* as you can see here.
You can see he's quite a hulk of a Pigeon compared to her.
No need for commentary with the following photos.
Jersey's sibling, formerly known as Jersey 2, but now nick named "Rehab" is doing well. I miss seeing them together. I always knew they weren't a couple, but it was great to occasionally think otherwise, and just seeing them side by side all the time. The most visually unique birds we've got visiting.
The good old days.
They still occasionally arrive at the same time. It's hit or miss if they are going to sit together. But that's okay. She was here the day he returned to the wild and I do believe she helped him with that transition period in the first days being back home.
A few days ago (that's the brute above).
Rehab is doing fine without his sister. He's been strutting cock among the other birds, probably looking for a mate as well. I actually have another cool story about Rehab for another blog. It certainly adds to his life here with us.
Of course as I key this, I look outside to find The Jerseys hanging out together. That's a rare thing! And they brought in a few others who I am certain come from the same lineage.
This was actually over a week ago now. I let the blog slide to the side.
Here's Rehab last week. He is loving the dog days of Summer!
I recently had a couple adventures helping a few birds.
First off, friends of mine had a Canary in their backyard. They live up the street from me. My bud John was texting me about the bird when it first showed up. I asked him if he was going to try and catch it. He said they had nothing to contain it. We keep a spare bird cage here at home because of all the escapees we come across. I told him he could borrow it. John showed up minutes later and picked up the cage. He quickly set it up in his yard and less than an hour later they had the bird inside.
Now to try and find the owner. I told him I would do what I could from home on the computer. I shared a photo of the bird on a few community Facebook pages. Then I put one on a Toronto lost and found pet page. John posted on some other pages. We waited through the coming weekend and no one claimed it. As much as John and Zeny thought having a Canary would be cool, they knew it would probably be better suited in another home... hopefully free of cats (they have one), and possibly placed with other birds.
I tell ya I haven't had this much "internet frustration" dealing with people as I did trying to help that bird. It all stemmed from the lost and found pet page. So many people argued it was a Goldfinch. Some even argued that Toronto has flocks of wild Canarys! A few people tried to make me feel pretty shitty about us catching this bird, that we need to do the right thing and set it free. One woman was basically begging that I let the poor thing go. Some stated that because the bird was not banded, that it was not a domestic. It took a lot for me to not lose my shit on these people. I grew tired of arguing back with the truth. People commented without reading back through the older comments. A few took my side, confirming it was a Canary, it was a pet bird, etc. Some offered to take it if we didn't find it's owner. I started to weed through these people, trying to determine who would hopefully be the best caregiver to the bird. That in turn became another cluster fuck. Yes, the f-bomb is necessary due to further frustration trying to help this bird. One person would only take it if we could confirm it was a male (they did not want a female because they don't sing). Another told me a golden tale of having 3 birds and would gladly bring it home. We chatted back and forth. They seemed like the best candidate overall and I set up the arrangements for them to contact John because they wanted to pick up the bird the very next day. All that wasted time with the back and forth emails as the person never came through in the end. They never contacted John. And they didn't have the courage to tell me they were backing out. Stuff like this really makes me lose my faith in a lot of people. It makes me more skeptical with the next time something like this should ever happen.
I saw this posted somewhere and it seems suiting for what I had to endure with those people on that page.
I contacted a friend of ours, Chris, who lives out in the east end. She volunteers much like I do, even more so with other places, and has resources to more people willing to help animals in need. Luck have it, she found someone who quickly said they would take the bird in, but would also continue to monitor lost bird posts. They have lots of experience in caring for birds. They already have a couple Canarys so this bird would not be alone. And get this, they contacted John, they set up a time to come get the bird, and they followed through exactly as promised. Amazing!
It's funny that Chris and I have gone back and forth with helping each other help creatures the last few years. She took in a Budgie I helped catch. I took in an abandoned Tarantula she was trying to help place. Now she helped me place this Canary. While I may have lost faith in strangers, I have not lost faith in people I know.
And as a "thank you" gift, look what John brought over to me, as a token of appreciation from him and Zeny for helping them with this bird! As I key this, it is Wednesday, so take a guess at what I'm going to enjoy this evening.
Continuing with helping birds, here is another...
Someone found a box along Dundas Street just north of Islington subway. Within the box was 2 very young Pigeons. What a cruel heartless act someone did by removing them from their nest, probably on their balcony, and just dumping them like this. That's the only thing that really makes any sense.
I picked up the birds and transported them to Toronto Wildlife (recently got permission from my doctor to start doing more including getting behind the wheel for local driving). Sadly, one of the birds died on route. The other was non-stop crying (begging) as it was starving. We can only hope he will make it.
Whoever did this could have avoided the trouble by ensuring no birds were making a nest on their balcony.
The survivor, last I heard anyway was still alive.
It was my most heart breaking drive in to date.
It's still mostly life at home with a couple brief walks to some very close parks. The Skunks are a treat to see, occasionally spotting one (or two) with first or last light of the day. It's makes for better viewing but with a constantly moving Skunk in dim light, I realize my camera lacks the capabilities. I may get 5 clear shots out of 100. Oh well, still a joy to watch and a great distraction for me.
We were surprised to see a rather portly adult coming around now. I'd almost think it was pregnant by how round her mid-section is. Here is a one minute video of this beauty.
Then there's the young ones.
We've got holes all through the garden and about the lawn. We are okay with that.
The Pigeons and other morning visitors are confused about this new animal appearing.
From yesterday morning, two of them wandered about shortly after 7 am and disappeared down back by 8, possibly under our shed. We are okay with that too!
Then there's the 3 young Raccoons. I do believe something has happened to their mother as I've not seen her in a few weeks now. The kids are doing well but I worry about how they are acting without adult supervision. They know well enough to sleep all day. It's just their antics at night are a little brazen, or dumb.
"Talk to the paw Rob!"
Looking guilty down there.
No fear of the Skunks. It's like they watch the Skunks dig around for food, and then they try to push the Skunk out and steal the food.
Waiting for the rain to end one evening last week.
Their mother lived in the garage roof near our shed for a couple years but moved out this Spring, which was good, because the neighbours finally had the roof repaired. She was a great mother Raccoon and kept her young in line.
Here she is, May 2016, sleeping on top of the roof, right by the entrance.
I've seen less and less of the kids in the last 10 days or so. Hopefully they didn't go and get themselves killed. Maybe they had enough of being sprayed by the Skunks and are staying clear of here?
Back to day time fun and distractions out back...
Cross Orbweaver Spider
The Betrothed Moth
Jumping Spider (older photo, saw one recently but it got away on me)
Our cats are always entertaining. Merry is a great side-kick, enjoying just sitting in the chair and watching the world go by.
She's normally the better behaved of the two but recently she got into a bit of mischief in the kitchen while I went downstairs for something. I swear she's saying "What? It wasn't me. It was Molly!"
Molly got some leash time which doesn't happen too often. She's not big on the leash/harness but she did good with this outing.
Last bits...
Peek-a-boo!
Here's my arm almost 5 weeks after the accident. I guess those scars are here to stay. I am still dealing with a fair amount of discomfort in the midsection, not constantly, just odd moments, depending on what I am doing. So it's nothing like the first couple weeks. I hear broken ribs take a long time to heal. I've got 2 to mend. Oh goody!
I can't say I really like this blog all that much. I love a lot about it but it's a bit of a mess, isn't it? I don't even know how to end it besides griping about my not liking it. I know starting a blog, then working on it a week later, is not what I like to do. What I initially want to go with changes with the days passing and my moods as well. No I'm not overly moody but how I feel today is very different than how I felt the day I started this. Plus cramming so much in here, when I could have done a few smaller blogs. Oh well. Hopefully some of you have stuck with me to the end here.
Okay, time to shut up now.
Back soon.
2 comments:
Keep the faith Rob! You do what you can for what you can. Everyone knows that. If Pierre does not come back, just know you really helped him over the years. All the feedings and getting that thread off his toes. That Pigeon certainly had a friend in you. So much luckier than most city Pigeons out there. Love your Skunks. Pass on the spiders though. Happy to read you are continuing to mend. Can't say I like what someone did with those young Pigeons. Nice to know one less stray bird out there trying to survive in a place it does not belong.
Brad
Praying for Pierre's return
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