Potchky's WunderBlog

After a week of rain and chilly weather, the sun has finally returned! It's been nice out, a little chillier than previously enjoyed, but the life doesn't seem to mind too much.
As a matter of fact, that burst of warm weather before the chilliness came has led to one interesting fact that we've noticed...the tulips and the daffodils up here are blooming at the same time, and that usually doesn't happen! Sure makes for some gorgeous bulb beds this year!

The little Purple Finch wife that we've been rehabbing is getting along just fine. I can't get over how much she eats...multiple times a day, her food dish has to be cleaned out and replenished. Glutton!
But she's doing good! I'm very pleased that she's made it so far, and impressed. We got her a little nest to hide out in, and she went in last night (with a little encourangement) and today has been hopping around on top of it and pecking at it. We don't know for sure or even really think if she is pregnant, but we just wanted her to have some place to hide in if she felt the need. Birds in the wild build nests and whatnot, and I felt that just having her in a cage, with nothing to sneak into, would be detrimental for her, being that she is wild. Especially at night, I thought that she'd want something to climb into, but we'll see. She might not ever use it reliably!
Her eye has reached a plateau, the big black crusty piece is still over it, but it hasn't gotten any worse. As a matter of fact, it seems to be chipping off in some ways, 'cos towards the front of her eye, the black crust has diminished. I still can't tell if the crust is her eyeball itself, or just some crap over her eyeball. I'm very curious to know, though.
Her wing also still hangs limply, but she can move it when she's agitated, and even somewhat flap it. But you can tell that it isn't right just by watching her, 'cos she's always getting the bad wing stuck on things when she's hopping around her cage, and the good wing doesn't get stuck on anything. It, like her eye, though, hasn't been getting any worse. So, that's a good thing.

I don't have any pictures of her to put up here for anyone, though, because the first set that I've taken didn't get approved the first time and are still pending now that I've had to explain that it's a picture of a WILD bird, even though she's in a cage...so I won't even try to put up a new picture of her yet. But, she's doing well and is healing and I hope to have her released soon!

If anyone has any knowledge of how I might be able to supplement her diet with something other than black oil sunflower seeds and safflower seeds, feel free to drop a line!

So the Man and I stepped outside yesterday to go and take a gander at our veggie patch, not realizing that there was an injured Purple Finch in our flower bed. We must have startled her mate, because he took off and left her flopping in the grass. I'm pretty sure we startled her, too, but probably not as much as she startled us! So, now we have become Purple Finch-wife rehabilitators. Or at least we will be making an attempt at it. Her wing is messed up and possibly...