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The Finster Log
This Is Earl Grey
Posted on: 12/18/06, 16:32:44
This is Earl Grey looking about his worst: sitting in the heat of the light bulb, on his tummy, bedraggled and sleepy.
In this picture his head is raised — at his absolute worst his head is resting on the ground. This is Earl Grey in hospice care.
The mornings are the hardest, both because of the stress of being caught for medicines, and because it's been about 24 hours since he's had the meds, and I'm pretty sure they're helping. Every day I think this might be his last; I think that most often in the mornings.
But then he'll get up and snack, and get some water, and I relax a little. He also flies up and spends some time in and on top of nest boxes. He can't fly straight from the floor to a box anymore, but he still gets up there. And he still sleeps in a nest box.
The other night he had a hard time getting to a box. He probably made his way to the boxes a little late, which made the process a little harder for him. I turned the kitchen light back on to give him some help, but it was bedtime, and he really wanted to be up there, with his pals. He's mostly been sleeping with Oolong and Wasabi (Peas), either inside the second or third box (these will all be from the left). He managed to get on top of the fourth box, and then on top of the third box, and then on top of the second box, and then on top of the first. From there, he got himself inside the third box, which has traditionally been his box. But that night the other birds were in the second box. He called and called, but they didn't budge. So finally, he made his way inside the second box — with a flight reminiscent of his healthy days, back when I could never hope to catch him in the daytime: he flew a nice loop from the porch of the third box to the porch of the second. Success!
Just now he spent a few minutes flying to the tops of several different boxes. He clearly wants to snooze next to one of the other Finsters, but unfortunately they're not interested. Oh, the other birds take plenty of naps during the day, or just sit with each other quietly. But they know Earl Grey is sick, and are a little wary of sitting with him, at least during the day. In the wild, of course, the sick birds are most likely to get picked off by predators, so it's a bad idea to spend too much time with them. Lucky for Earl Grey, they'll nap with him inside a nest box, day or night. Sweet things.
In this picture his head is raised — at his absolute worst his head is resting on the ground. This is Earl Grey in hospice care.
The mornings are the hardest, both because of the stress of being caught for medicines, and because it's been about 24 hours since he's had the meds, and I'm pretty sure they're helping. Every day I think this might be his last; I think that most often in the mornings.
But then he'll get up and snack, and get some water, and I relax a little. He also flies up and spends some time in and on top of nest boxes. He can't fly straight from the floor to a box anymore, but he still gets up there. And he still sleeps in a nest box.
The other night he had a hard time getting to a box. He probably made his way to the boxes a little late, which made the process a little harder for him. I turned the kitchen light back on to give him some help, but it was bedtime, and he really wanted to be up there, with his pals. He's mostly been sleeping with Oolong and Wasabi (Peas), either inside the second or third box (these will all be from the left). He managed to get on top of the fourth box, and then on top of the third box, and then on top of the second box, and then on top of the first. From there, he got himself inside the third box, which has traditionally been his box. But that night the other birds were in the second box. He called and called, but they didn't budge. So finally, he made his way inside the second box — with a flight reminiscent of his healthy days, back when I could never hope to catch him in the daytime: he flew a nice loop from the porch of the third box to the porch of the second. Success!
Just now he spent a few minutes flying to the tops of several different boxes. He clearly wants to snooze next to one of the other Finsters, but unfortunately they're not interested. Oh, the other birds take plenty of naps during the day, or just sit with each other quietly. But they know Earl Grey is sick, and are a little wary of sitting with him, at least during the day. In the wild, of course, the sick birds are most likely to get picked off by predators, so it's a bad idea to spend too much time with them. Lucky for Earl Grey, they'll nap with him inside a nest box, day or night. Sweet things.
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