Fledged!

Well, that didn't take long from the time I'd realized the chicks had hatched!  When I first got home, I looked quickly at the nest (trying not to stress them out) and thought this was an adult feeding the chicks.  I got inside, spoke to Thomas, and realized that this was one of the babies, trying to work up the courage to leave the nest.

He got home before me, and had seen two of the babies hopping around the lawn.  One even jumped up about two feet to perch on the side of a tree in our yard.  The third is the one pictured above.

Presumably one of the parents, keeping an eye on things:

So cute!  When I checked a few hours later, before heading upstairs, this last chick was still standing there, thinking about fledging.  That means the chick was standing there for at least 4 hours!

This morning, the nest was empty.  I'd imagine all the birds should be relatively close, but I couldn't see them this morning.  They're probably hiding in the bushes in my neighbor's yard.  I'm hoping to see them healthy and hopping around this weekend.

Rocky flight school

Even though Rocky has not had his flight feathers cut for quite a long time, he still rarely flies.  I guess that's understandable since he was into his 20s before learning to fly.  We're trying to change that, so he gets more exercise.

Thomas usually has him step up and ferries him into the living room.  I had hoped he would follow Thomas of his own volition (flying) but when that didn't happen, I had to help things along:

He still doesn't get as much lift as I'd like, though he can make it to the shower curtain from the floor, so he is making progress.  He's really good at landing, taking corners, flying down, and making changes mid-air.  Pretty much all we need to work on is stamina and taking off on his own.

If only it were as big of a priority for him as it is for us, he could be as proficient as the greys in our house.

Max vs. Rocky

Max and Rocky frequently chase each other around.  It seems to be mostly a game for them, especially Max.  She likes to grab his tail.  He is mostly indifferent towards her, but will defend himself if necessary.  As always, we watch them closely.  Also, since they are of similar size and can fly, we allow this.  If they were of vastly different size -- for example, if Rocky were a large macaw -- this type of play would not be allowed at all.

In this first video, Rocky had been playing in the hallway, happily alone.  Max flew down and wanted to play with him.  He tried to get away from her, which turned it into a game.

In this second video, the two of them were under the kitchen table (mess under the table due to the fact that the parrots had been loose much of the day -- it was all swept up before we went to bed.)  Then, when Rocky sees me trying to make a video, everything takes a (not so surprising) turn.

Grey shadows

The parrots are still not allowed on my shoulder, but Thomas has decided to allow Stella on his when she flies there.  I think he's playing with fire, but it's his choice.  Lately, whenever Stella is on his shoulder, Max follows them around, flying to whatever perch is closest.

Amazingly, she never flies to his other shoulder.  She knows the rules!

 Thomas was trying to read the paper, but the greys and Rocky would not leave him alone.  They were equally spaced apart, in a diagonal line.  Made us laugh.

A case of mistaken self-identity

Over the years, I've marveled at how parrots love routine.  It's also interesting to me how things can quickly become routine.  Here's a new one in our house.  Since it's nice out, we like to open the windows in the morning, when we get back from running.  In order to do so, we have to let Rocky out of his cage.

Winter routine is that all of the parrots (except Brian) stay in their cages post-run as we unwind a bit, spend time with Brian, and read the paper in peace.  When it's time to shower, Brian goes in his cage and the greys come out to shower.  After the shower, everyone comes out for an hour or so before work.

This is not feasible in the summer, as Rocky will occasionally scream when he's in his cage, but is far less likely to do so if he's walking around the house.  In order to have our windows open while maintaining neighborly harmony, he gets a little extra freedom now.

With Brian safely on the table, Rocky has developed a new routine of pretending he's a budgie.

He climbs into Brian's cage and hangs out under the paper cage liner.

Then, he goes over for a snack (which can't possibly be filling).

When he's bored of this, he walks into the living room and hangs out in my spot on the couch.

Sometimes he also likes to pretend he's a caique.  He'll let Beeps out of his cage.  Then, after Beeps exits, Rocky climbs inside through the food door and plays with Beeps's toys (almost all of which are duplicated in Rocky's own cage.)

Stand-off

Max and Beeps are the two parrots in our house (anthropomorphism alert!) that are enemies.  I blame Max for this, as she has picked on him from the beginning.  Even though she is fine with Calypso, there is something about Beeps she doesn't like.  She chases him around, buzzes him, and they engage in weird games together that I'm not sure are innocent.

As such, I supervise very closely always, lest one of them seriously hurt the other.

Earlier this week, Beeps was on my arm as I was doing the sudoku puzzle in the paper.  Max had been content on her stand, but as soon as Beeps jumped up on the table to run around, Max had to as well.  Probably because I was there and they knew it was futile to fight, they stayed about a paper's length away from each other; however they were mirroring each other; ripping up paper at the same time, then marching around, etc.

This scene is surely not as peaceful as the one from last week.

Last night's dinner

I've decided that we need to start cooking a wider variety of meals as we'd gotten stuck in a rut these past few months.  I've been flipping through my favorite cookbook, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and marking recipes to try.  Last night was a potato/quinoa/red pepper dish.  It took a bit longer than I thought, so Thomas and the parrots kept me company in the kitchen while I finished.

After a few minutes, he brought my cookbook over to me, tattling on Max:

Luckily she did not destroy any of the pages, but she did enjoy being ferried around; one foot on each page.

When the meal was done, she flew over and helped herself.  If you look at her eyes, you can see they are pinning.  She LOVED this dish.  Sad for her, we thought it was OK, but not something we're planning on adding to the rotation, so this was probably a one-time thing.

Another new dish is planned for tonight; we'll see if it gets the parrot and human stamp of approval!

Hatched!

I last talked about my robin's nest here.  Over the weekend, we noticed a little beak sticking out of the nest!

We grabbed our binoculars and could see three baby birds.  You can easily see two of them, but the third just has her beak visible, off to the right.

I'm hopeful they will all survive and I'll be able to get pictures of the fledglings hopping around my lawn.  So adorable!

Safe keeping

Thomas and I were making a decision last week between two brands of something we needed to purchase.  Each of us were worried that if we said our preference first, we would unduly influence the other.  I suggested that we write down our preference and then compare and discuss if we didn't agree.  We did this, but then he gave his choice to Max for safe keeping:

Luckily she relinquished it to me easily, and had only destroyed the edges, so Thomas's choice remained clear.  Even luckier, we agreed on what to buy, so no discussion was necessary.

Rocky walks

Thomas was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a magazine.  Rocky came by and started playing around his feet.  I love it when he walks around with his beak on the floor.  Another thing I love about Rocky is that when you call his name, he stops what he's doing and looks at you, as in the end of this video.