Elmo and Georgie wish you

a very Merry Christmas

and a great 2015!!

Can you believe that our wonderful Elmo pigeon is 14 years old?!!

Happy Hatchday, Elmo boy!!

We are blessed to have such an amazing little pigeon like Elmo living with us, and here is the proof of his funny, wonderful character: Elmo’s playlist

Here’s Elmo a few years ago:

Our darling dear pigeon, Georgie, is now 7 years old!

Happy Hatchday, Georgie!!!

xxxx

During the wonderful years that we’ve had Georgie we have recorded her behaviour and adventures, so please have a look at them at: Georgie’s playlist

This is Georgie a few years ago:

Ps. I’m sadly unable to post a photo here due to technical difficulties with the website. I hope to rectify this soon.

It was a funny sort of day the other day. It started with heavy rain, so much rain that I thought I’d need to wear waders to get to my car. Then it stopped and the sun came out and all was glorious. But wait, here comes the rain again. I was home for lunch and when the rain stopped I decided to let the pigeons out for a wander on the wet ground.

As soon as Georgie felt her feet in the water she started swishing her beak in the water and I knew what she was wanting – a puddle bath!!

So there was Georgie having a whale of a time when I noticed Elmo shaking. He was looking at Georgie intently and shiving all over – he wanted a bath too!!

It was such a joy to watch the two of them bathing so close together without any fighting – they were simply concentrating on the water – water that I was scooping up to drip over them and swishing around their feet. I don’t think they’ve ever had a “wild” bath before – it’s always been tap water – so I’m glad they had a rainwater, puddle bath. It felt like they were going back to their roots as feral pigeons.

Our pigeons love summer. The sunshine, the gentle breeze, the vibrant grass. They love to hang out in the garden doing practically nothing, just enjoying the day without a care in the world. A little bit of preening may be on the schedule, a bit of pottering about to peck at the ground, and then a spot of sunbathing to round things up.

I learn a lot from being with Georgie and Elmo. I slow down and relax, take in the glorious day and enjoy it. It’s a lesson I appreciate.

Pidge

1993 – 2014

Rest in Peace

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of Pidge on the 11th June, 2014, at the age of 21. In the past year Pidge’s health had deteriorated but he remained in good spirits and was cared for with love and devotion by his mate and the staff at Folly Wildlife Rescue. In the last months, as he was unable to walk very well, Pidge spent his days with his original carer, Annette.

Pidge was the first feral pigeon hand-reared and cared for by Annette (my former employer) at Folly Wildlife Rescue. He came to her as an orphaned baby in 1993 and she fell in love with him. Pidge lived as a free-flying pigeon for many years until he had a close-encounter with a sparrowhawk, after which it was decided that he would be safer in a large aviary with non-releasable pigeons.

All the staff and volunteers at the rescue centre fell in love with Pidge. He had charm and character and would entertain us with his behaviour all the time. Pidge would strut and coo to anyone who visited him. He LOVED people! He had such enthusiasm! Without fail, Pidge would fly over to me to greet me when I would enter his aviary to feed and clean. You couldn’t help but laugh and greet him back with joy. I believe he was the first pigeon that I met that opened my eyes to how wonderful pigeons are. It is possible to say that without meeting Pidge I may never have adopted my own pigeons.

Pidge wasn’t only interested in people, he also found love with a resident pigeon, Dora, and was very devoted to her. They were definitely the “celebrity couple” in the aviary, being so pretty and outgoing. Dora stayed by Pidge’s side when he fell ill, defending him from intruding hands (staff members who tried to clean the cage they were in) and giving him lots of cuddles and affection when he was unable to move about easily.

I can say for certain that Pidge will be greatly missed. He was a wonderful pigeon. Rest in peace, dear boy.

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If you would like to donate to Folly Wildlife Rescue in memory of Pidge, please visit their website: www.follywildliferescue.org.uk

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You can read more about Pidge on my previous posts: Pidge and the resident pigeons

Pidge with his mate, Dora:

HAPPY PIGEON APPRECIATION DAY!!!

Why celebrate pigeons? Because they are amazing birds with lots of character and charm. Here’s why we think they are simply wonderful:

Even injured pigeons ask for love from humans:

Baby pigeons and doves are ADORABLE:

Tame pigeons are excited when you find them:

Pigeons have amazing voices:

Pigeons are funny:

Here’s a couple of short videos of our darling pets: Elmo pigeon, Georgie pigeon, and Hugo cat.

Enjoy!

It seems that our move up North has the full approval from our animals. They enjoy exploring our new home, especially visits out in the garden, which I ensure are regular occurences to give them a varied and interesting life. No animal should be stuck in a single place all the time.

Georgie nibbles my hand.

The other evening, after returning home and letting Elmo out of his secure area, Elmo walked with purpose into the kitchen and waited by the patio doors. I usually spend the evening chilling out after a long day at work, but I simply couldn’t ignore Elmo’s obvious gesture that he wanted to go outside. As soon as I opened the door Elmo hopped out and proceeded to preen himself in the cool evening wind (with me sitting by his side). He was so adorable, it was a pleasure to relax with him.

Elmo rock climbing!

Elmo also enjoys eating dirt. I believe he does it to receive minerals and little stones to aid digestion. Or he may simply like the taste!

Georgie and Elmo continue to tease our cat, Hugo, by insisting on having baths in his water bowls. But they otherwise co-exist fine, no real drama to talk about. I still (foolishly) hope that one day they will all fall in love with each other and be one big happy family! Wishful thinking, I know, but miracles can happen (right?).

Georgie has a bath while Hugo watches.

Wet Elmo!

At the beginning of last year I wrote about how many eggs Georgie has laid (click here to read the post) and I feel I should update the list.

Here are the numbers:

• 2008 – 2 eggs
• 2009 – 16 eggs
• 2010 – 7 eggs
• 2011 – 8 eggs
• 2012 – 20 eggs
• 2013 – 14 eggs
• 2014 – 3 eggs to date

That makes 70 eggs in total.

I captured the moment when Georgie laid an egg this month:

Poor darling, it always looks a bit painful and stressful, but Georgie takes a moment to recover and is fine. It is interesting when you see the egg laying behaviour because now I can recognise it for what it is. The first time I saw her all puffed up and moving her tail in that manner I was quite alarmed, especially since we thought Georgie was a boy! Certainly wasn’t expecting an egg to appear!

Moments before she started to lay the egg (in the video) Georgie was in her nest on the sofa and Hugo boy (our pigeon-fearing cat) was very intrigued in what was going on. Georgie was all puffed up and looking different and I think Hugo thought she was something other than a pigeon. I moved her to her cage so she could lay her egg in there. If I were to move her after she had laid the egg then there would be a big chance she’d reject the relocation and insist on going back to the sofa. This has happened in the past so now I know to quickly move Georgie and her nest to her cage for the egg laying to ensure she incubates them happily in her cage. Thankfully, her eggs are infertile so I don’t have to worry about Georgie rejecting them, although I prefer her to incubate instead of laying another pair of eggs so soon after the first pair.

Georgie girl all puffed up