Lilek (aka Dumpling) Preening

In the absence of broadband today, I am posting a photo of Dumpling sitting on my leg preening. I know it isn't much but it's about all I can do right now!

Monty tells off a ducky

I have been watching Monty tell off this plastic duck for the last ten minutes, most amusing!

Brave budgies eating Scary food, Nine birds eating together!

Eventually some very brave budgie boys decided to try and LOVE the scary food.

They all ate lots and lots, should help with their current spiky moulty heads a lot.

I also caught a picture of them all eating seed together. Yes you are right it didn't last and there were squabbles - colourful though right? :)

Happy Valentines day!

Today I have made the birds a lovely egg, broccoli, Dill and carrot heart shaped food plate thingy for dinner. So far they are a bit scared of it and only Monty has ventured over to have a look.

They're tired and moulty so I thought I would mix up something special for them - there is more in the fridge for tomorrow - I am sure they'll be over soon to sample it!

It's been a bit of a crap day today - if you go on over to my personal blog (http://mariannemarlow.wordpress.com) you can read all about it.

For now here are some pics!

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Dumpling (Lilek) on my knee

Lilek likes to help me work at my computer. he bites my fingers as I type.

 

This was emailed from my phone hence the poorer than usual quality, just thought it was a cute moment!

Custard moves in with Roswell and Jerry, Dumpling on a Swing, Double Trouble

Custard has now moved into Budgingham Palace with Roswell and Jerry. It seemed such a shame to keep her away from Roswell at night seeing as she seems to dote on him so much so we decided not to!

I made up a little girly corner for her with her Olympic rings and a pink mirror although so far Jerry seems to love it a bit more than she does!

So far so good although night times are awkward as Jerry likes to leap about a lot before he settles down and this unsettles Custard. No danger of moving Jerry out though as he does this wherever he is put the little naughty Green boy. Besides he's Roswell's best mate so it would be a trifle unfair.

Lilek AKA Dumpling has been playing on the Parrot toy swing that arrived with him all those months ago, we have also seen Monty and Roswell take a liking to it.

I caught a frightening photo of Lilek earlier, it looked like there were two of him - two "Dumpling's" nipping at my toes would be too much even for me to tolerate!

Boisterous fiends splashing about and a dumpling being naughty as usual

The birds had a little bath-ikins yesterday which they seemed to enjoy tremendously - especially Monty. We have a little shallow saucer which my husband thought might make a good "bird bath" so I put a little tepid water in and Monty came bounding over and jumped in it - look at the picture below you can see that he was very enthusiastic about it!

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, I have a confession to make - I call Lilek "Dumpling" - it's his slightly rounded shape and the way he waddles along - of course I mean it affectionately and cutely. He also dives at our plates of food whenever he gets the chance.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are spent fending him off of toast and pasta - he actually landed on my sandwich yesterday and the day before got some ketchup on his tail from waddling through my husbands food.

I know that he just wants to eat with us as he sees us as part of the flock which is fair enough, so yesterday I sliced up some apple and fed him some from my plate (not the same bits as I was eating obviously) as we watched TV and he seemed vaguely satisfied with that, although I am not sure he liked the apple and he still tried to eat my sandwich!

Maybe if I only ate budgie food there wouldn't be a problem...pass the trill and babycorn!

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Roswell pipped to the post in Budgie of the new year competition!

Lovely hunky Roswell came second in the "New Years Best Budgie Competition" judged by Breeder Barrie Shutt here: http://www.budgerigars.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?34336-New-Years-Best-Budgie-Competition/page33

Thank you Barrie, we think Roswell is a very beautiful bird.

Congratulations to Icharus who got first place and a lovely Rosette and Ozzie who came third, he really is a striking budgie.

Funny how all the winners were male, they do love to pose.. :)

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Hector Preening Blue-Boy

I just caught Hector preening Blue-boy. It's nice that it's mutual because up til now I had only seen Blue-Boy preen Hector!

Hector is by far the dominant budgie of the couple. This is the first time that Blue-boy has been preened by any budgie because Sky (his cage-mate before he integrated with us) didn't preen him and he didn't preen Sky!

Goes to show that budgies do have personalities and their own individual preferences.

The Happy Couple

Pouting, Preening and messing about

Lots of photos as I managed to find some old batteries in the "spares" pot that actually powered my intensive juice-sucking camera for long enough to take a few shots and upload to my PC.

1/ Oooh Roswell aren't you big and strong

Custard admires the big Grey fella.

2/ What is this stuff?

Jerry dives in and makes faces at the treats laid on for the fiends.

3/ Monty knew it was time to give up smoking when the munchies had almost run out

I want the worlds biggest bag of crisps man!

4/ Sky is just hanging around

Being nosey!

5/ I am waiting for you

Lilek waits with intent on my husbands chair - hoping for some toast crumbs.

6/ A Moulty Custard

Custard looks a little ragged but still very pretty and fluorescent.

7/ Custard singing

If I sing a song then Roswell might come and pay attention to me.

8/ Preen me Blue-boy

Hector makes his demands clear.

There aint 'alf been some changes

I have been in hospital for five days and my wonderful husband has been taking care of the gang for me.

He has also come up with some innovative things to make both of our lives easier.

Layout changes

My long suffering husband has had the ingenious idea of using newspaper on top of the tiles on the cages (tucked in at the sides) which is saving no end of time and mess - at the end of each evening I usually clean the tiles which is a painstaking task. Now I just take off the newspaper and throw it away to be replaced in the morning by fresh paper :)

Also Hector and Custard no longer eat in their own cage separate from the other 7, they have been firmly integrated into the group, with the help of one small ramekin for budgie 9 to eat from as we only have 8 seed trough places. We think that the budgie that gets number 9 seed trough is very lucky though cos it holds slightly more!

Social changes

Blue-boy and Hector:

Blue-boy and Hector have become firm friends, they are inseparable, they hang out together all or most of the time. Blu-boy has taken to "pinging" the cage bars with his little beak to get attention. Hhis attention is mostly required from Hector although my husband said he walked past the bird cage late at night to check up on them and he heard a little "ping" then too, Blue-boy was letting him know he knew he was there!

NEWSFLASH: I also saw Blue-boy preening Hectors head earlier today which was really sweet.

Since Blue-Boy and Hector struck up this friendship my husband says that Blue-boy has been sleeping far less and enjoying jolly japes with Hector instead, I am really happy about this as Blue-boy tended to spend a lot of time on his own before.

Custard and Roswell:

Custard has formed an obsession with Roswell, "she" (we're not clear yet as here cere is pink because of the mutation she is, we may never know for sure) follows him around for most of the day "Ooh aren't you big and strong Roswell " she murmurs in her best small lady voice.

Custard along with Monty are our smallest birds and Roswell is the biggest - so opposites really do attract. Luckily it is not al one way as I have seen them bashing beaks and singing together too!

The photos today are going to me a bit rubbish as my batteries have run out and the rechargeables take a about a day for 30 minutes of power - hopefully some decent ones tomorrow!

Monty has been vying for attention, landing on my husbands arm and nipping him and then chasing Jerry away when he tries to land near. Monty does some little spins in the air he's a real agile little budgie.

Lilek was very pleased to see my feet for the first time in 5 days and made light work of "wooing" them, I had to put my shoes on in the end.

Snowy still loves the green ball in the soap dish and last night he was singing to it, chasing it around and biffing it with his beak.

Sky is loud and confident, likes to play with most of the other budgies on a Rota-basis, likes to spread himself around a bit - at the moment he's interrupting Blue-Boy and Hectors nap by trying to engage Hector in a beak to beak!

They are all doing very well, my husband did a great job looking after them in my absence.

I wasnt able to post yesterday but just to let you know it was Roswell and Snowy's first birthday (they're not really one but it's the date that we got them, I think they were 4-6 months old). Paul gave the fiends some millet to chomp on in aid of this momentous occasion, I found the evidence of it on the floor when I returned home. Note to self: Must train fiends to sweep floors.

Thank you Brian for supplying them, they being us much joy.

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