Actually, what with a couple of major cage cleanings, some new (Evil) nest boxes, perch cleaning, and trying our best to take care of Ovaltine, the honeymoon was over a long time ago. But today was the first time (why? because I'm lazy) I opened the Finsterium door just a crack to take a few pictures since all the new birds moved in. This one of (probably) Cinnamon (half inside) and Ginger (on the porch) proves that during the day, the new plastic nest box is pretty nice. (At night, unless they're hiding inside, the box remains untouched.) You can click here for a bigger version of the picture. And since the photo just barely shows off Ginger's crested feather, you can click here for a close up of Ginger's head, with glowing goodness!

This scene of Goober (half out of the box) and Earl Grey Defending The Realm is familiar. You can click here for a big version. They're probably a little quick to Defend these days since I haven't opened the Finsterium door much lately. In contrast, Goober has been almost comfortable with my presence when she's on the ground Ready To Snack, and I'm reaching into the Finsterium to put new snacks on the floor. Once she even snacked on the end of the lettuce leaf while I was still holding it!

The third photo I took is a good example of what we fondly call the "Head on a Stick" phenomenon. When a bird has fairly significant feather damage around its neck, and stretches up tall to intimidate its foes or picture takers during scary situations, it looks like this. If you take a close look at the photo of Cinnamon and Ginger, you'll notice that Ginger has some feather damage around her neck — those feathers are much more rumpled than Cinnamon's front. But Ginger doesn't have enough feather damage to have a Head on a Stick. The bird in this photo could be Szechwan (Pepper), Peppercorn (Mélènge), or Nutmeg — I really can't tell for sure. You can click here for a big version. It's a little gruesome, but don't worry — it's larger than life.