It's hard to believe, but Frank was actually on the white (slightly higher) Evil perch. He was there for a minute, at least, biting at the wire. I tried to take a picture, but I wasn't fast enough. There may be hope for his long toe nails, after all!

Probably a safe bet that it's Darjeeling again. Calcium, calcium everywhere. I'm on the verge of catching her to give her an undiluted dose, but catching birds can be very stressful to them. It's a hard choice.

This time I saw who laid it: Darjeeling. The Finsters got liquid calcium in their water every day while I was away as a precaution. According to the instructions, they should get it five times a week during breeding season — or when they're laying. I took a couple of days off with the calcium when I got back from my trip, but obviously I have to start adding it again.

It's also Thanksgiving, so all the birds got millet spray (since all the F.A.D.s are gone). Peanut also climbed down my shirt to eat some stuffing, and flick it around. He sure does like eating from spoons!

The perches formerly known as Evil are becoming exactly what they were meant to be: popular. They are short, which makes them a bit private, and easy to defend if a bird is inclined to protect its territory. They are high in the Finsterium, which makes them a good spot to watch out for danger. And they occasionally have tasty seeds attached to them. So far, though, I have only seen three birds on them. Tea uses them the most, and prefers the white perch. He sits there pretty frequently, watching the activity in the Finsterium; sometimes he faces the wall and preens. Decaffeinated is the second most frequent visitor. She prefers the peach-colored perch, and sits facing the wall (watching me?!?). Earl Grey is visitor #3, and likes to preen on the white perch, often with Tea. As far as I know, Darjeeling has never been on an Evil perch; she usually sits inside one of the nest boxes. I'm not surprised that Frank and Sally haven't used them, but it is curious that I haven't seen the two choco-colored Societies using them. However, Bosco and Goober are the two most frequent visitors of the mesh perch, even without the F.A.D. Goober particularly likes to sit on the cuttlefish bone (still hardly touched) and rock back and forth. Bosco is a big fan of the seed towers. The late Early Bird also used to like to sit on top of these; their flat tops were perfect for his bum feet. When they're not on the "normal" dowel perches, Frank and Sally usually sit on top of one of the nest boxes.

I got back home late last night, Peanut woke up enough to "arnk" at me, but not enough to get any warm toasties. No news of eggs or sick hens, and no birds in the hospital cage. Good news! This morning Peanut vocalized quite a bit using unusual — but not unheard-of — high-pitched, long kissy noises. I talked back to him, I think he was just glad to see me. The Finsters all seem fine — Plus they are now occasionally using both of the Evil perches! More on that later.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is a wonderful place. And one of the highlights of the Park visit were the lorikeets. Lorikeet Landing is a large enclosure with lots of rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus). On the way in you can buy small cups of a special nectar. You hold them in your hand, and the birds fly down to drink it. Bruce's mother got some nice photos, which I'll try to publish, but mine didn't turn out too well. I was pretty busy feeding the birds. I could do that all day.

I took more photos — including more birds — that I'll publish soon. This photo is a group of nests built by Orange Weavers (Euplecies orixftanciscana), native to Africa. They're very hard to breed in captivity, but seemed to be doing well in the enclosure at the Park.

I leave this evening for a week-long trip. I have somebody coming in every day to give the birds fresh water, etc., and calcium for the Finsters! Liquid calcium in the water every day, plus cuttlefish bone, plus a shell-and-stuff mix, plus nestling-food-and-grated-cuttlefish mix. I hope it works. Obviously, if any of the hens get sick my bird-sitters have been instructed to call me so I can take a Concorde home....

Peanut will get lonely without me around, although he does have the Finsters to keep him company, and I've hooked up a radio to the light timers. I've also left enough socks full of nuts so he can get a new one every day! He doesn't usually go through them that quickly, but it's one of his favorite toys that stays in his house, so he might play with them more if he's alone.

I found a hard-shelled egg on the Finsterium floor near noon today. The shell was thin, but at least it was hard. We're making progress on the calcium issue.

Fizzy managed to get a picture of the babies: Star and Stripes. You'll notice that Stripes is sitting in the food dish. They're still begging their parents for food, but they're also trying out real food themselves. I've seen young sparrows do this, too: they sit in the feeder outside, right on top of the tasty seeds. They'll try a seed from time to time, but the moment a parent or perhaps any adult comes by, they beg. "Feed me! Feed me!" Baby zebra finches, like Star and Stripes, make a wheezing sound when they beg, so I call them "wheezers." Baby Society finches are "peeps."

Believe it or not, Tea was sitting on the Evil Perch this evening — the white one that has never had a Finster Attraction Device attached. First he sat there and looked around, and then he started preening. I guess he finally decided it was safe. That's Bosco, watching.

Another soft one, possibly a little smaller than the others. Whoever is laying, and I suppose there could be more than one, is doing it in the evening. I can't tell who it is, or I'd catch her and give her calcium directly. As it is, I'm giving all the Finsters liquid calcium in the water 24 hrs/day, mineral dust on soft food every day, cuttlefish bone and egg shell available at all times. I'll get nestling food (Fizzy's idea) and mix it with grated cuttlefish, too.

Another one. Bad news. I haven't seen who is doing it, and none of the hens look sickly. But birds are very good at hiding. More calcium, everywhere.

For the first time in weeks, I discovered a soft-shelled egg on the floor of the Finsterium. This means one of the hens is laying, and isn't getting enough calcium. Just when I thought I'd licked the problem. A few straight days of liquid calcium in the water. I have all the other tricks in place, so hopefully this will do it.

Unlike the Finsters, who often take two baths a day (or more), Peanut only takes a bath every few days. He has never tried to take a bath in any other dish except this style, which seems like a pretty awkward way to bathe. I've tried to get him to try out other dishes, but he's always refused. As a result, he never gets totally soaked, but he can still get pretty wet. When he's finished bathing, Peanut flies from his bath dish to the top of his house, which is slightly lower. He'll preen for awhile, which he's doing here — the dark feathers in this photo are soaked with water. Today, after he preened for a little while, he flew to the Finsterium. But that means flying up, just a little. What with the still-damp feathers from the bath, plus the clipped flight feathers, he almost didn't make it. He clung to the Finsterium for a few seconds, both feet plus beak, before he got over that little shock. Good thing he made it.

When I first got Peanut I spent some time trying to teach him to say some human phrases, like "I'm the bird, gotta love me," and "Sure I can talk, can you fly?" But he soon taught me to speak his language, and it's been kissy noises ever since. However, there is one bit of human interaction that he made up all on his own: he squeaks along to the "Malcolm In The Middle" theme song. Really.

Last night was the season premiere of the show, and the first time in months where the show wasn't pre-empted by something else, and where they actually played the theme song, "Boss of Me" by They Might Be Giants. I'll sing along with the TV, and Peanut squeaks in perfect timing: "You're not the boss of me now!" squeak. "You're not the boss of me now!" squeak. "You're not the boss of me now, and you're not so big! "squeak. It's the funniest thing, and even better, I think, because he started doing it on his own. Last night he joined right in, squeaking from underneath his blanky, as if there hadn't been a summer break at all. They aired a second (repeat) episode, but Peanut was half asleep, so didn't join in until the very end.

Fizzy reports that the first of Rose Red and Shakespeare's babies fledged (left the nest for the first time) on November 1, and the second fledged this morning! Baby #1 so far looks like a normal grey zebra, except for a white spot on its head. Baby #2 looks like a normal grey. Both male and female normal grey Zebra babies are almost all dark grey with black beaks, and don't get their adult plumage or orange beaks until their first molt — we won't know their genders until then. That white spot suggests that Baby #1 is a Pied mutation. Shakespeare himself is Pied, and Rose Red probably carries the genes for the Chestut-flanked White mutation, so Fizzy was hoping for some nice colors. We don't have any pictures yet, but you can click here for a close-up of baby Rose Red, with Sister Snow White and father Guy. Guy is a normal grey Zebra finch, with the telltale cheek patches of the male. Rose Red, a normal grey herself, is begging on the right. Snow White is being fed; as a Chestnut-flanked White mutation, her feathers were white even before her first molt.

The not-so-evil perch has been pretty successful. The bar spacing on the platform is too far apart for the Finsters, which makes it a bit awkward for them, and they still don't quite have the knack of eating the cuttlefish bone, but as you can see from this photo, the cuttlefish has drawn attention even without the addition of a Finster Attraction Device. Most, if not all, of the Societies have tried it out, and the perch has become an occasional gathering place for the birds.

The Evil perches have still not gained much attention. Unless there is a Finster Attraction Device attached, the birds don't go near them. Literally. I have not seen a single Finster on the perch without the millet spray. Even with the F.A.D., they're not keen on using them as perches. But, I haven't given up on the hope that I can avoid catching the birds to trim their toes. I will continue attaching the F.A.D.s and raising the perches. Eventually, maybe, they'll stop being so darn Evil.

Darjeeling and Bosco were next to each other on a perch. First Darjeeling sang a Hunka Hunka Burning Love song, and danced a Hunka Hunka Burning Love dance, to Bosco. Then, Bosco sang a Hunka Hunka Burning Love song, and danced a Hunka Hunka Burning Love dance, to Darjeeling. Both the songs were more muted than the males', and the dances weren't as energetic. Still, the two girls were going at it, just like the boys do. I'm beginning to think I should rename the Finsterium to "The Love House." The good news is that all of these courtship activities haven't led to any egg laying.

Probably the best way to take a photo of a bird in flight is to use a manual-everything everything 35mm camera with a telephoto lens, a lot of light, a tripod, and a lot of fast film. But if you have a decent digital camera with lots of automated options, you can occasionally get moderately lucky. Click here for a bigger version of a bird in flight.