And here they are. Our two new babies! This is Luna and Soleil. We know Soleil is a male because he's a few months older and his face has already turned yellow. Hopefully Luna is also male, although we won't know for several months. If he's a he, his face will turn white and his name will make sense. If he's a she, she'll stay looking a lot like this, and lay eggs in inconvenient places all the time.

They're settling in nicely, and are slowly getting used to me. I've done a fairly good job in outfitting the room, apparently. They seem to like the reflective doodads that I've placed everywhere.

*UPDATE*

The above photo was a few weeks back. Luna, having clipped wings, and no tail feathers to speak of, developed a rather dangerous landing style that included folding his little tail up under his body and smacking hard into the floor. This led to an injury, and a temperament that turned steadily nastier. I took him to the bird shop for first aid when I realized he'd hurt himself. Bobbie, the owner, decided that he should be hospitalized for a while, so she took him back and offered to give me a different bird. I'd only had them a week, so I was cool with this. I hadn't had much time to get attached, and I was happy that the little guy was going to get better care than I could give him. He's happy and healthy now, although apparently he's still a nasty tempered little thing, so I guess it kinda worked out for the best.

The new bird inherited his name because I was too lazy to think up a new one. He doesn't have a faulty Luna lander (as it were), and he and Soleil, after a couple of days of mutual distrust, are now the best of buddies. Here they enjoy a bath in the afternoon sun.

You'd think that would be enough, wouldn't you? But NOOOOOO. Shortly after this we had our yard sale. (I'm kicking myself for not photographing it for the site. It was impressive.) I made a fair amount of money, and I couldn't stop thinking about the albino chick that Bobbie had shown me the last time I was in. I thought, "Well, it's money I made from selling my junk, and I can fit one more bird in the cage, so why not?" I went over the following Monday and to my delight, the chick was still for sale. How I ended up with another one on top of that is still a mystery. I guess they just looked so sweet together, and the little pearl was so pretty. So now there are TWO cages in the aviary and the room is full of color and happy chirps. I'm actually hand feeding the babies--they're still on formula. I was given a crash course in syringe feeding so I could take them home sooner. They bond a lot more effectively with you when you feed them this way, so I'm delighted to have had the opportunity. Our first few sessions ended with formula everywhere--on feathers, hair and clothing--but we've gotten better at it, the kids and me. I'm going to miss it when they wean in the next couple weeks. This is Piper (cinnamon pearl) and Finn (albino). All four birds get along very well, but they live in separate cages to avoid crowding. We have playtimes where everyone gets to come out and socialize. It's wonderful to have feathered friends in my life again.

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