3rd day. Is this not cute or what? It looks like he is hugging/protecting the younger baby. If you look closely you will see his beak covering hers. I found out later what a nasty little bugger this older one was....
4th day.... awwwwww. Seems little sister appreciates the hugs and hugs right on back. Big brother is thinking devious thoughts though I soon discover.
Here is where the story fill in comes in. During this week I watched these two. They seemed fine. Then one day, about 5 or so days into the 2nd baby's life I found it dead and basically thrown from the nest about a foot away. Broke my heart. After talking to a friend about this he informed me that in the bird world at times the older baby will kill the younger one so he can get more food from the mom! It turned out this is exactly what was going on. As you can see from the next pics this remaining baby grew in leaps and bounds all of a sudden. It was amazing to watch. It seemed like a different bird almost daily.
Very late the second week and possibly this was into the 3rd week, this now much bigger baby decided to take his first walk around. Up until this point he was very quiet. I never heard a thing from him. When I went to check on him he would kind of waddle in place in his little hidey-hole. On this day I was sitting at the computer and could hear this loud peeping and the mom coo'ing away like they were having this major conversation. Curious, I decided to step out on the balcony and see what was going on. There he was... in the middle of my balcony. The funniest, most pathetic looking thing I've seen in a long while. Fat little body and these long stick legs. lol Well he takes one look at me and starts this funky chicken run for cover. It was hysterical. He found the nearest thing to snuggle up against and sat there like he was well hidden. I snapped the pic then. You can see how much he is changing. He is getting colour in his feathers as well.
Late 3rd week or early 4th.. I lost the time table on these pics. Just call me "Baldy". Seems they lose their yellow baby feathers last on their head. And boy do they lose them! lol Nothing grows in for a while and they look completely bald almost. You have to admit, this is one ugly baby. No wonder we never see them. They are kept hidden for a reason! LOL Notice the feathers are still changing colour and he is getting plumper.
4th week sometime I'm pretty sure. Talk about a bad hair day! lol He is still bald and looks like he is sporting a mohawk at this point. You can still see a bit of the yellow in his main feathers but they are really gathering momentum getting some colour in them.
Late 4th week, possibly early 5th week. Well he is running all over the damn balcony at this point and has daily frequent conversations with his mom. You should hear them at times. His peeping/chirping and her coo'ing. Sounds like a riot out there.
At this point comes the fill in story. This bird was going to be the death of me. I received a notice from my property management that they are coming to paint the balconies! This means I have to clear off any and all of the storage boxes there. I didn't want to do this but had no choice but wanted to keep a couple there so the baby was protected from the painters.
Out I go to start shifting a few things. Well.... this terrorizes the baby. Scares the crap out of him. He starts running around my balcony like a chicken with it's head chopped off. It is late at night too. Around 11 p.m. My balcony door leading to my apt. is open. You got it! All of a sudden I hear this 'click, click' sound and instantly I know what it is. It is his spindly little feet running over the metal strip at the foot of the balcony door right into my apt!
I freak. Run into the apt and there he is in all his glory in the middle of my livingroom. I have white carpeting and all I'm thinking of his him pooping on it. lol I start to move slowly and he starts to run like lightening again. Down my hallway towards the bedrooms. Thank goodness those doors were shut.. into my bathroom though... lol I think I have him cornered there and off he runs back up the hall and back into the livingroom.
From there he takes off to where my sectional sofa meets. I'm really freaking now thinking he is going to tuck himself between those sofa's and I'll never get him out. I managed to block him from doing that but he takes off again and this time is charging for under my computer. From there to under my diningroom table where he takes a short rest.
At this point I don't know what the hell to do and start yelling for help. lol My poor mother who happens to be sleeping away in one of the bedrooms comes out to help when I tell her what is going on. We decide she should try to ease him towards me at the other end of the diningroom table and I'll get some rubber gloves so my scent doesn't get on him and I'll simply scoop him up and put him back on the balcony. Famous last words! lol
Next thing I know he is charging past me and into my kitchen. His useless wings stuck out and his spindly legs running like the wind. This little bugger is making some major tracks around my place. I'm running after him and through the kitchen back into the livingroom. He decides to hide by the tv where I can't get to him. I shoo him out as gently as I can but instead of going in the direction I want him to go he runs the other way. I backtrack and find him huddled in a corner.
Slowly, very slowly I start to reach for him and he starts to inch away again. Geezzzz I'm tired! lol Bingo! I finally manage to grab the thing. He is so scared I can feel his little heart beating. He tries to escape by trying to flutter his one wing he can get loose. He isn't flying yet thank goodness or who knows what my apt would have looked like at the end of all this. In my run for the balcony to deposit him back there I'm scared he is going to have a damn heart attack or hurt his wing.
I put him down in his little hidey-hole but he no longer likes it there. Guess I disturbed it too much and he starts running around the balcony again. I being yelling to shut the door! I don't want to go through that again because he is heading that way. I start chasing him again because he is going places he shouldn't be going and I'm scared he will fall through the space between the balcony floor and the panels. He finally sets himself down, crammed between a storage box and the wall thinking he is hiding but his bum is sticking out for all the world to see. I leave him be. I'm too old for this! Btw, my girlfriend Miriam called just after this escapade when I was still out of breath and thought it was hiliarious.. I'll get her back for that! lol
5th, probably 6th week. As you can see he is in full plumage now and more than half the size of his mom. He has found a new hiding place too. Right underneath my air conditioner where I had a step stool propped up. He liked the bag over it. Gave him protection. Looks like mom carted some garbage in there too for him. He has finally grown into his legs and beak too. This is the last picture I took of him. My camera started giving me grief of all things and it will have to go in for a look-see. It wasn't too much after this that he learned to fly. He has since flown the coup so to speak. :-) As of today (August 23rd, 2001) it has been a few days since I have seen either mom or him. Guess he is off having himself a grand old time exploring the world.
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