For the last couple of weeks, things have been a bit hectic. Some of the days have been pretty hot, which is enough of a pest in itself, and I’ve had a workman coming in every couple of days to do some maintenance on the house. This has been brought about by normal wear and tear, and also the strong winds we’ve had lately have damaged the awning over the back bedroom, and one of the weatherboards on the back of the house fell off. As a matter of urgency, a man came round to put it back, and as he was hammering it back on another one fell down! So it was decided that whatever needed to be done should be done!
So far, I’ve had my rear screen door rehung (it was continually sticking), the venetians in my bedroom are no longer falling down, my side gate can now be opened without the aid of a battering ram (my mower man will be delighted!), I have new washers in my kitchen taps, and new grouting in the hall between the tiles there. The problem with the grouting was that the workman used a type he wasn’t familiar with, and it dried much quicker than he expected, and now he has to remove the excess! Still it’s all good, but it’s just meant I’ve had to reorganise my days to make sure I’m home when he calls, and I’ve had to rearrange my jobs so I’m not in his road, and he’s not in mine!
The first day he arrived unannounced, and of course I hadn’t had my shower, and was still in my dressing gown. So I went and had a quick shower while he started work. Then he arranged to come back a couple of days later, between 9.30 and 10 am. I made sure I’d had my shower nice and early, and was just out, and partly dressed when the phone rang. It was one of my former music students in a state of panic. She and her brother had been getting ready for school when the cat caught a bird. Her mum and dad had both left for work, and she didn’t know what to do. She told me she thought the bird had broken its legs, so I suggested to her that she drop it in to me before she left for school, and I could take it to the vets if necessary. She only lived about a block from me, so she arranged to meet me at my place in a few minutes. I threw the rest of my clothes on, and went out the front, just as she was crossing the road.
The little bird was sitting in an icecream container, and its legs seemed to be pointing in the right direction, but it still seemed dazed. I indentified it as a red browed finch. After she handed it over, she rushed off to catch the bus, and I took the bird inside, wrapped it in a face washer (the bird was VERY tiny), and put it in a box lined with a towel and left it in a quiet place, and away from Max. A quick glance showed it was minus a few tail feathers, but no other injuries were apparent. I went off and did a couple of things, and came back about half an hour later to check it. I lifted the lid of the box just a smidgin, and the bird shot out, and flew to the nearest window, and sat on the venetian blinds. Well, I thought…wings and legs seem fine! So I picked up the face washer and dropped it over the bird, and picked it up, and took it outside and let it go. It flew off to the honeysuckle vine, and hid in there till it got its bearings. An hour or so later, I heard it go, but I didn’t see it leave. I’m assuming it worked out where to go….it only had a short distance to its home. Later that afternoon I saw the young lady down the street, and she was delighted when I said the bird had survived and was released. She felt sure it would have died, after the cat got it…and that unfortunately, is often the case.
Yesterday, I had to start looking after my friend’s cat, while she went away for the weekend. She has a lovely garden, so I combine looking after her cat with enjoying her garden. She has a lovely bottlebrush out the front, and the noise coming from there was quite loud. I investigated, and saw several noisy friarbirds helping themselves to the nectar in the bottlebrush flowers. They are very well named…they are VERY vocal. You can hear them about a block away…and they look like friars. Their feathers are various shades of brown, so they look as though they are dressed in monks habits, and they have bald heads, which makes them look a bit like tiny vultures. Their heads are bald so they can put them right into the flowers and not get pollen and nectar stuck to their feathers.
In the same tree were several musk lorikeets. Lorikeets are parrots, but instead of eating seeds, they, like the friar birds, and honeyeaters, like nectar. There were a couple of adult birds, and a baby. He was trying so hard to act grown up, but he was a dismal failure. Mum and dad hung upside down from branches for easier access to the flowers, and when he tried that he got his wings tangled up in the leaves, and nearly fell off the branch. He gave up in disgust, and begged some food from his parents…poor little mite, he has a lot to learn!
In the morning, I’ll go down and feed the cat again. Hopefully I will be treated to more bird antics. Hopefully this will refresh me before the workman returns this week…..
Mamaroo's Diary 