A pair of fowl -- but fair -- reports made their way to Chicken Corner this week. The first is a tale of two cockatiels. The second, our most recent correspondence from Chicken Corner's water fowl correspondent.
Suzi Rogers, who lives in Echo Park and is known to many as the Edendale Library Friends Society's book sale manager, sent me this Echo Park bird story:
Last week a friend who lives in the Pico/Union area mentioned that she had found a gray cockatiel walking around her yard. Since many cats, including hers, hang out in said yard, she gathered it up in a box. Being a computer geek she immediately went on-line to see if anyone was looking for their pet cockatiel and low and behold a guy in Silverlake had just lost his beloved cockatiel "Cleo". He came right over to pick up the bird but alas, it was not his Cleo. He felt terribly let down and my friend was embarrassed and upset.
[Then, Wednesday] after a long afternoon of selling used books at the Edendale Library, I decided to just stop off at our local Vons (Alvarado and Montana) and get something for dinner. Coming out of the store, in the parking lot, walking towards my car, was a yellow cockatiel! I picked it up and it pecked me a few times but stayed very still on the floor of my car on the ride home. I put it in a box and called my friend. She still had the guy 's phone # so I called him. He was just going to work (he's a nurse at Children's Hospital on Sunset) so he asked if we could bring the bird to the hospital.
My husband took the box, with bird, to the hospital after dinner and to our great delight it was indeed his beloved Cleo. So my bird karma is at an all time high!
Meanwhile, the gray cockatiel was taken first to the Pasadena Animal Shelter, which refused the bird because it was not found in Pasadena. Then it went to Lacy Street, which promised that they do not kill birds. They said the cockatiel will go to a relief aviary if its guardian does not turn up.
On the wild side, Martin Cox sent the following (which I received here in Washington, D.C., where I am visiting family for passover).
Martin:
Well, some good news: four Mallard duck families have managed to retain some chicks, and once they reach a larger size their chances of survival increase.
Several Great Blue Herons have reproduced, and I think a Night Crowned Heron was successful also.
You may recall that Chicken Corner recently reported that duckling numbers were at a scary zero at the start of the season. So, here's to keeping the present numbers afloat, if not higher.
Back east we're watching cardinals, gold finches, pileated wood peckers and other types of wood peckers, and flies as big as chihuahuas.
