We got the call Thursday evening that a new brood of baby Starlings were ready for us. So, Friday morning, after breakfast, we headed out to collect our new babies. At Brenda's farm, we were able to say hello to all of the hens and roosters again, Charlie and Princess, the adorable dogs AND... a baby Canadian Goose with an angel wing - a deformed right wing, that sits forward instead of backwards, rendering her flightless. Her wing is being held gently by a mesh sling with the hope that as it grows, it will move in the position it needs to be in to take flight. She is BEAUTIFUL to watch and stares over at the hens and roosters, watching their every move. When she first arrived, Brenda tried to keep her in the same space as the hens and roosters, but she was being picked on. So she is now separated from them, wobbling back and forth with her little deformed wing. Brenda will soon be getting a whole bundle of ducks to join her little goose so she won't be alone for long!
We then went inside to meet our new baby birds. All four were huddled together, snuggled down for warmth and were very sleepy. We brought them out to the car in their nest, tucked inside a larger birdcage and plopped them on Mama Bird's lap. It didn't take us long to name these new babies - one girl is constantly hopping out of the basket and trying to escape! The other three just watch her comfortably from the nest, making faint chirping sounds. Since Niamh wanted to name one of them, Gladys, it was only fitting that the other three be named...yes you guessed it... The Pips! So, Gladys Knight and the Pips got through their first night at home with us, with relative ease. Niamh and I feel quite comfortable with the routine, but these little guys are so much more sloppy than our first brood - they literally crawl to the top of the basket, stick their bottoms out and projectile you know what straight across the floor! I will admit that it's pretty awesome though, the sheer force and speed of these maneuvers, but man, we are having to change shirts and pants constantly, not to mention sweeping and washing the floors over and over again! But this is but a little price we pay for being active members of an amazing organization who willingly volunteer their time, efforts and love to care for all things nature.
