olsen

Thank you guys for all your support on the bird sorrows.


After so many "not your bird" emails and visits to shelters across state lines, I decided it's time to worry about Water, make sure she's not breaking apart from loneliness.

I called around until I found some little hand-reared budgie babies, just weaned last week. The woman who owns the shop bred them, and said the little green guys are very roly poly lively.

Once this little nubblin hopped up on my finger, I was in love. I walked all around the shop, picking out toys and a secondary cage (for while they get used to each other), and she just stayed right on my finger sweet as can be.

Moss.

She's six weeks old.

I can tell the difference between how social Narcissus and Water were as parent-raised birds, and she is. Narcissus and Water yelled at me and bit me the first night I had them; I stayed reading in the bathroom with them perched on my toes until they got used to me. Moss is totally comfortable perching on my finger, or my forehead or my lip (which rather hurts).

She also makes completely different noises than Narcissus and Water....I'm thinking it was probably that the two of them lived so long with just each other that they must have made up their own little language or dialect. After a day, Water is actually altering her sounds a bit, to match Moss.

They're getting along okay, though it's definitely a bit rough on Water. When she first saw Moss, Water flew across the room to the other side.... Then, a few moments after I took this photo and they sort of made first contact, Water turned away from Moss completely, and started calling out her little Marco Polo cry for Narcissus.

So we know....one companion does not replace another....and I think we're both still hoping Narcissus is not gone for good.

But in the meantime I'm hoping that Water will do better having someone to care for.....and I'm pretty thrilled to have Moss in my life.