Budgie, the Cockatiel

I am sitting here at the pc, at nearly midnight, enjoying the quiet and solitude that can only happen late at night or early in the morning.

Then my cockatiel, [whose name is Budgie :)] starts whistling. It seemed like her whole repertoire was stuck on loop and she was being very loud. She can wolf whistle, whistle a cockatiel version of reveille and say "here buttabutt". I kept saying "night-night budgie" which is her cue to be quiet, even in the day time, but after awhile, I was saying "shut up budgie!"

Finally, I got up and took the cover off the cage to talk to her about indoor voices and not waking up grumpy heads of households. And I found two disgusting, big cockroaches, the flying kind, in the poor bird's food dish. I felt really mean, and guilty and I said sorry to Budgie. After i shooed them away (I don't stomp or spray), she started preening her feathers, and has now gone back to sleep.

I shouldn't have ignored her "noise". She was just calling out for help from her mum :(
So to make it up to her I'm posting this picture. Isn't she beautiful? She could give us all hair and make-up tips. (yes, that's my overflowing bookshelf in the background. what's the emoticon for embarrassed?)

And I have to tell you how smart she is. She has a special hello shriek, just for family members. She never shrieks at our neighbours, just us. She can tell when HH pulls into the driveway, and she lets everyone know he's home. She shrieks at me when she hears the keys in the door. Such a warm greeting, it makes you feel loved. (Actually, it kind of makes me think I'm getting yelled at before I've stepped in the door. "Shriek, here she is! Where have you been young lady?")

She also has a cute 'arck' sound she makes when she gets woken up before dawn, by HH on his way to work. It kind of sounds like f---, I wonder where she picked that up?

RIP Baby blue tongue

This morning I found Baby Blue Tongue under the front stairs dead. I guess the great black and white hunter got him after all. :( sorry buddy

An unexpected visitor

I was making toast for my little man the other day. I reached into the cupboard to get a plate and got a surprise: This little guy was sitting on our plates!
(sorry about photo quality, I used my mobile phone, no time to get the camera.)

He hissed at me, and puffed his body up trying to look like a scary snake. It took me a second to realise he was just a scared baby blue tongue. He was only about 10 centimetres (4 inches) long, but he made me jump, that's for sure!

It took ages for me to corner him and get him into a salad bowl (the closest thing to a bucket I had within arms reach.) I was afraid the Great Black and White Hunter (our cat) might find him. (The dumb cat will calmly watch mice eat his biscuits, but he loves to chase lizards.)

Then once I had baby blue tongue safely in the salad bowl, hiding under a handful of mulch from the garden, I had to figure out what to do with him. We have huge, nearly 60 centimetre (2 feet) long blue tongues in our back yard, living in our compost. It's nice and warm there with lots of snails and worms, perfect blue tongue habitat. I just wasn't sure how friendly these big guys would be to my little guy. What if blue tongues are fiercely territorial, and by releasing him in my backyard, I was sending this baby to his doom?

I made a quick call to the RSPCA 1300 animal hotline. Even though it wasn't technically an emergency, the operator was extremely helpful. I was reassured that he would be O.K. Blue tongues are quite gentle, and very timid. The operator pointed out that the adults down the back were probably his parents. Duh, why didn't I think of that? He had to have come from somewhere! We both had a bit of a giggle about the fact that some how he had made it up two stories and into our kitchen cupboard. That's one intrepid baby blue tongue.

Two days later, Handsome Husband was moving the wheely bins, and let out a girly squeal, ahem, I mean a manly shout. I ran outside to rescue him, I mean, to see what was wrong, and there was Baby Blue Tongue. He was doing his hissing act, puffing up to his full 10 centimetres (4 inches). I laughed at HH, who was backed up against the fence, picked the lizard up in an old shirt and let it go down the back again. At least I know it hasn't been eaten yet.