House Finch Update

     The baby house finches are now being cared for at the Ruth Melichar Bird Sanctuary. The people there commented on how they'd been fed. I think that they took that to mean that I picked up a couple of chicks that were still being cared for by their mother instead of taking it as I fed them. Btw, I can tell the difference between baby birds that have fallen out of the nest and baby birds that are orphaned; these birds were orphaned. I think that the sanctuary will foster them to a zebra finch mother. Zebra finches seem quick to take up orphans. But they said that the chicks have a very high chance of survival.

Anna's Collection of Pink and Squirming things

PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK.


Two of the three orphaned House Finches

     I got back from BYS yesterday and about ten minutes later my friend called and said, "Hey Anna, You like birds right? I found some little ones in Sister Fractman's lawn." They were pink. I have three pinky birds sleeping in a box next to me as I type this. And they are absolutely tiny! I thought they were hummingbirds for a minute. Now I think they're goldfinches. Those are pretty small and we have a few around here. I'm trying to find them a wildlife rehabber so that I won't kill them accidentally. But I really want to keep them now.




Breakfast's pregnant belly

     Breakfast the Mouse is definately pregnant, she's getting that "swallowed a golf ball" look. She'll probably deliver more pink and squirming things into my room before the month is up.


Yes it's upside down and
you can deal with it.

     While were speaking of mice, my dad and my brother found a wild mouse(?) under our truck topper that was lying in the lawn. When I got home my brother was gone and Dad said that it was in the plastic dog treat container in my room.
     Guess what? It wasn't.
     I spent about ten minutes basically tearing my room apart until I found my brother's note that said it was in the aquiarium above my typewriter. Now it's in the freezer; it should make two or three kestrel meals.
    

Mice, Astroturf, and the Test

I got mice.

Breakfast

Dinner

Lunch

I'm pretty sure that Breakfast and Lunch are pregnant. Dinner is a male. I think Lunch might be sick or something; she's had a stuffy nose for a couple of days now.

I got new astroturf. Very high quality stuff. It's much better than by old astroturf; I probably could have killed a kestrel with that stuff. The new turf is about 3/4 of an inch thick, very soft, and made with two different types of blades. There's the straight long ones and the short curly ones that make it really soft. It's made to cover lazy people's lawns so that they don't have to water it.

Oh, I almost forgot! I passed my test! I got a crap score but it was a crap score that was over 80%!

Four Down, Two to Go

 I widened my platform perch.



Before

After

I still can't figure out how to attatch the astroturf. The turf that I got is such poor quality that everything that I've tried thus far has ruined it. I'm looking for better astroturf online that isn't out of my budget.

I'm hoping my mom will take me to get mice today. Also, Someone in the IFA (I won't mention their name for security reasons) found a farm in Middleton that raises pheasants and they have a major overpopulation this year so they're culling the excess chick and selling them for super cheep. I'll get 100-150 of those for $20-$30, breed mice, catch a house sparrow every now and then, and my kestrel will catch some game for itself too.

Hello Again

     Sorry about the gap between posts. I was gone for a week to McCall.

     I got my leashes right before I left, literally. I got my leashes and an hour later I was on the road.
     P.S. "premium hawkers chocolate" tastes nasty.

     Monica came over to check my equipment today.
DONE:

• stabilize the screen perch with some string connecting the top to the feet
• attatch a loop of rope to the center of the screen perch for tying the leash
• make some minor modifications to the giant hood

TO DO:

• extend the sides of my platform perch
• figure out how to secure the astroturf to the platform perch in a way that is secure (especially around the edges) and removable
• get some breeder mice

     My dad still thinks that I should wait until I have a kestrel to get mice, but if I want a good supply (that I don't have to pay and unaffordable price for) then I have to get them now.

Leashes

I finally spoke with someone of authority at Western Sporting. They found my order through the website database but there was an energy glitch so the website database didn't send the order to the product database. Since I ordered the leashes FIVE FREAKIN' WEEKS AGO they said that they would only charge me for one leash (I ordered two) and rush the order and send me some of their  "Premium Hawkers' Chocolate" with the order for free. I'm not sure what that is, but I'm pretty sure it's chocolate so I'm happy.
Unfortunately, I'll be camping next week so I won't get the package until the next week unless rushed shipping means overnight. That would be fantastic.

A New Aviary

     I caught my fifth house sparrow by way of funnel trap a couple of days ago. My family was waiting for me so that we could continue our nighttime rituals so I just put it in the aviary. After we finished our prayers, I took it out of the aviary and into the garage for euthanization. But it was in the wrong hand and I was wearing gloves so of course I had to switch hands.

     Guess what happened?

     I spent the next hour and a half chasing a house sparrow around the garage. Finally, around 11:00pm I set my trap in the garage and went to bed. I caught it today with the trap.

On a slightly related note:

     I have been a little worried about actually keeping up with a kestrel's food needs. I haven't been catching very many birds and, apparently, the bird won't be able to entirely provide for itself. I think I'll get feeder mice. $8 for a pair and they'll reproduce like crazy. I think that between that, the sparrows from the trap, and what the kestrel should catch I will be able to keep up with its diet.