Elmo and Georgie,

as well as Richard and I,

wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Elmo and Georgie amongst the presents:

Georgie under the tree

Elmo checks out the presents

Elmo amongst the presents

Our Christmas tree

Every Christmas we have the same problem. We bring out the tree, the decorations, the lights and the hats and Elmo and Georgie protest – it takes days for Elmo to pluck up the courage to run past the Christmas tree, the twinkling lights annoy Georgie (cue: wing slaps and angry coos), and heavens forbid we dare put on a Santa hat to get into the Christmas spirit!! Elmo HATES them. It’s as if we turn into gremlins when we place them on our heads – Elmo runs a mile, shaking with fear. If we place the hat on the floor Elmo will rush over to kill it.

Last year I attempted to wear one while decorating the tree, jumping about to corny Christmas music and Elmo nearly had a heart attack. So now we can bring out some decorations (but only a few respectable ones) and the Christmas spirit, but we have to make sure we look and behave relatively normal, as if nothing has changed, just another normal day in the calendar year. I guess the neighbours will be glad that we’ve toned down with the amount of lights we put up.

However, I’m seriously thinking that with all this humbug attitude going on I won’t give Elmo and Georgie any special seed presents this Christmas. They certainly haven’t helped so why should I bother?! Maybe the feral flock will be more accepting?

Here’s Elmo, our darling clown boy, attacking the Santa hat:

This blog is mainly about the adventures of our two pigeons, Elmo and Georgie, however we also like to spread the word about other pigeon people, especially charities and organisations that help pigeons around the world.

So, if you are able to be a bit generous this Christmas, why not help out a pigeon-friendly rescue centre/sanctuary or organisation such as the following:

• Folly Wildlife Rescue in Kent, UK: http://www.follywildliferescue.org.uk/

(Where our Dora pigeon lives.)

• Wing and a Prayer Bird Haven in Norfolk, UK: http://www.wingandaprayerhaven.org.uk/

(We visited them last year: Trip to Norfolk with pigeons)

• MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA: http://www.pigeonrescue.org/

• Wild Bird Fund in New York, USA: http://wildbirdfund.com/

• Iron Wolf Farm Sanctuary (private sanctuary) in USA: http://ironwolffarmsanctuary.com/

You can also find the above organisations on Facebook.

I received an early Christmas present from a dear friend that I’d like to share with you:

I’ve taken it to work so that everyone can enjoy seeing such beautiful birds.

Some might say that now is the time to be saving up your pennies and thinking about that very special occasion that is creeping up.

Here are some pigeon presents I found on Etsy you may want to buy a pigeon-loving family member or friend, or ask someone to get for you for, say, Christmas:

Artwork:

The Rain Dancer – Fine art print by VyalaArts

I love New York Pigeon fine art print by DarlingRomea

“If the Facts don’t fit…” pigeon print by mightypigeon

Crown Victoria pigeon photograph by jessicaelysephotos

Jewellery:

Hand drawn Pendant illustration of pigeons by mightypigeon

Pigeon Art Pendant by backbonestudio2

Dove Locket Necklace by saylorrose

Clothing:

Keep Calm and Pigeon On T-Shirt by keepcalmstore

Pigeon T-Shirt with Dots by smallgunns

Pigeon hat inspired by Mo Willems best selling children’s books by georgiabeckman

Other:

Pigeon Beads by TheCraftyBead

Pigeon cushion cover by Mirthquake

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas this year. We certainly did. Elmo and Georgie helped decorate the tree by flying up to the top to place the baubles and the star. … Just kidding. Our two pigeons cannot fly that well.

We placed Elmo and Georgie’s presents under the tree and they were certainly intrigued by the shiny packages.

Georgie and Elmo's Christmas presents

Georgie taking a closer look!

Elmo is curious too!

Here’s the boy opening his present:

We thought it was the perfect gift for Elmo because it moves about and is soft so he can preen it (or peck it if he so pleases!). Elmo sure had fun with the yappy puppy!

Georgie received a soft cuddly hedgehog to have in her cage so she can preen it (since she loves to preen fluffy things). Sadly, Georgie doesn’t like the camera so she rarely lets me take any video of her.

After we had all opened our presents and there were boxes, wrapping paper and bubblewrap everywhere, Georgie decided to have another look in case we’d missed anything. She loved the bubblewrap!

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Richard received a surprising gift from his Secret Santa at work, and he couldn’t wait to show them to Elmo when he got home. Meet Fergie and Scarlet, the newest members of our pigeon family:

We think they’re awesome – a lovely Christmas present! – however, Elmo wasn’t impressed at all:

Georgie didn’t like the sound they made so she ran away whenever she heard them near her.

Georgie pigeon meets Fergie

We tried again to introduce Scarlet and Fergie to Elmo without him pecking them.

Elmo pecking the toy pigeons

Richard calmed Elmo down and then placed the toys near him in his nest, and Elmo tolerated them while he cooed and twitched to Richard:

We’ve already learnt that Elmo does not like any other pigeons in the home (our attempts with Dora, Minnie, and Button have all been a failure), so we really should stop collecting other pigeons (even inanimate, or in this case, animate ones). But I cannot help myself. Pigeons are simply too adorable.

No, we didn’t have pigeon on the menu! (Many people jokingly suggested it! For shame!) However, we did try to incorporate pigeons and birds in our Christmas decorations. We’ll try to go all out next year, but for now we are happy with the few purchases we made:

I have to admit that yesterdays Christmas card was Photoshopped – because there is no way that we could have orchestrated a peaceful photo shoot with Elmo and Georgie standing together on the Christmas tree. So with a bit of magic, Richard put the following two photos together.

We think that Elmo approved of the tree.

Georgie wasn't too sure about the tree.

Georgie is still on her fake egg, and she seems happy so I didn’t take it away yet. She didn’t want to celebrate Christmas with us – she is too dedicated to her egg to leave it.

Elmo, on the other hand, got what he wished for: pine nuts and lots of love. We didn’t have to get him anything else – he is one happy pigeon!

Last year Georgie was more interested in Christmas. Here she is sneaking a peak under the tree to see if she’s got any presents:

And I got what I wanted for Christamas: a wonderful pigeon necklace! Thank you hubby!! xxx

Pigeon in Flight Pendant Necklace by SunshowerCreations on Etsy

I threw out lots of seed and peanuts for the birds in the garden on Christmas Day, and immediately the woodpigeons that roost in the big tree on the other side of the hedge came down to gobble up all the food (with a feral pigeon to join them):

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and have given their pet pigeons or their local wild ones lots of love!! Merry Christmas!

I haven’t been very organised this week (short-staffed at work has made me very tired) so I didn’t get the Christmas posts sorted, so forgive me for the videos – all with a Christmas theme though:

And of course, Two Turtle Doves:

At a Christmas party with my husband. It’s a sit-down dinner with cheesy disco music blaring in the background. Lots of drinks. Maybe some dancing later.

The subject: pigeons. More specifically: Our pet pigeons!

Five minutes into the conversation I realise how crazy we both sound. Richard is showing the people at the table Elmo fast asleep at home as seen from the webcam via Richard’s phone. … We’re proud as new parents, showing off our “babies”.

Somehow I doubt we’ve come across as sane, reasonable people. “Hippie” and “crazy” come to mind.

Oh well. Return home late to a very happy pigeon dancing around our feet and greeting us with enthusiasm. We were only gone for about 4 hours but Elmo’s acting like he hasn’t seen us all day.

We didn’t disturb Georgie. She was fast asleep in her cage.

* * * * * * *

On another subject, here’s Georgie hard at work:

And now time to rest: