Miss Independence

Friday: East began fluttering when Mom fed her.
Saturday: East surprised Mom by hopping up on the side of her box. And then flying across the room!
Sunday: Mom took East into the front yard (after a big breakfast) and East decided that freedom was more fun than breakfast in a box. So Mom let her go and is trying not to worry about her being out in the World without a mommy to take care of her like the other little baby birds. The family room isn't quite as exciting now without a baby bird that smells just like dog food around!

Growing Up Sparrow

Our little East girl is eating and growing and cheeping and driving the dogs nuts because they can't touch her! Her nestbox also smells like dog food (she's a messy eater) and that just entices Kharma and Zelda even more.

I'm grateful for the Internet or I would have been clueless about what to feed her. As it turns out, bird parents all seem to feed their babies protein. And dog food has a nice balance of protein and grain, it's readily available, and East is thriving on it. I pulverize a handful of kibble in my blender, let it soak up some water, refrigerate it until needed and then add enough warm water to make a nice gruel for our little sparrow.

Sparrow clicker training would have been a breeze! I tried locating her box directly underneath the nest, right outside our window, but her parents never came to her rescue. She quickly associated the sound of the window sliding open with food. Due to thunderstorms, she's living inside now, and the appearance of a certain spoon makes her open her beak wide as she demands to be fed.

I had doubts about a successful outcome a week ago--now I'm amazed and grateful for this opportunity to raise our adorable little sparrow!

More photos tomorrow, even if I have to steal a working camera! She's too cute to miss.

The Golden Princess

TBG (The Big Guy) gave Zelda a bath last night. It didn't take very long 'cause Zelda doesn't get creme rinse and conditioner. But we are both clean now.

Zelda spent most of her day chewing up the stray bits of wood from Mom's raised planter project. I think she must like the taste of old cedar. Mom muttered a lot as she picked up wood slivers from the lawn later.

Zelda left the wood alone and started pulling the stuffing out of our stuffed puppy and when Mom took it away and went outside she began chewing up my plastic hamburger toy instead.

Mom told Zelda, "You have the appetite of a Lab." Zelda started wagging her tail as she thought of our friend Echo the black Lab. I saw Mom's face and told Zelda, "Dude, that was not a compliment."

Bird/Dog

Mom is always rescuing something. Me. The poodle straying on the Ditch Trail last week.

This nestling sparrow. She's named him/her "East"--his real nest is on the east side of the house, but too high for her to get him back where he belongs. And s/he reminds Mom of Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman.

Mom's mind works in mysterious ways sometimes. All I know is that East smells really really good.

I Feel Pretty...Oh, So Pretty!

I had a bath tonight. I'm clean and soft and sweet-smelling. Mom is just wet to the skin, BOL!

After I was all dry and brushed, Mom attacked my rear. She cut out lots of mats on my right bun and is still wondering why there weren't any on my left side. She trimmed my feathery skirt off for the summer too. Dad fed me cheese the whole time. I was so focused on that yummy treat that Mom even was able to brush out my tail. She used so much creme rinse on me that it didn't pull even once!

Here are my before and after shots:



I'm a little tired of all her picture-taking, but she is so thrilled to have a clean dog for a change that she's talking about taking more pictures tomorrow.

Monster Evisceration

Mom went for a long walk this morning. Without us.

Fortunately she left our monster toy outside for us to play with. So we played with it.
Actually, Zelda played with it, not me...well, maybe I tugged on it just a little bit.

Zelda chewed off the monster's toe a couple of months ago. This week she amputated his leg. Today she chewed his head off his body. Then it was really easy to pull out all the stuffing inside.

Mom was sure surprised when she came back from her walk and found the monster strewn all over the new sod! She didn't get mad though; she just commented that we had created a new tug toy. We have a pretty nice mom. Zelda and I learned a new word though: eviscerate. Every dog should expand her vocabulary.

There's Hope

Mom has only a day and a half until her summer vacation begins.

I'm hoping that means I'll have over two months of daily hikes along the ditch trail, swims in the lake when we visit Quincy at his cabin, and lots of treats. And new tricks to show off!