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	June 2009
Monday 1st June	More good news - we saw the return of Kaylie & Bonnie, our January releases. They came for food this evening. They looked great - but wouldn't let us near them, which is unusual. We won't press the point - they are supposed to be wild, after all. The following day they reappeared with two friends. Although we can't be sure who those birds were, we would like to think they are Mr P and Kleintjie.
Monday 1st June	Today was a sad day. We took Elwood to see Dr Isabelle as his legs were becoming worse. She confirmed what she suspected; he had tendon problems and was too damaged to rehabilitate. He was taken for a second opinion to CASA who are fortunate at the moment to have a visiting vet from the Peregrine Fund, but it is not hopeful. Poor Elwood. The good news, however, is that Jake is doing splendidly. He is eating by himself, flying around, pouncing, hiding, generally being delightful and learning all the time how to be a wild owl.   Fingers crossed for a successful release for him.
	May 2009
Saturday 30th May	We tried Chachell back in the aviary: Timba was not amused. Either Chachell has to leave, or Timba does - and we all know how Timba feels about that. So, we will keep poor Chachell in the house until he has enough feathers to out-run Timba the Demon Bird.
Friday 29th May	Elwood is not doing well at all. The legs are definitely in the wrong position - one is tucked under his body and appears to be unusable, the other has full movement but is positioned to far forward and kinks sideways toward his body. His appetite is good, but things do not look promising for poor Elwood.
Thursday 28th May	Jake the owl is starting to flap and actually getting somewhere, although in a downward sort of direction. Elwood, the younger chick, should only be a day or two behind but is showing signs of leg problems. He doesn't seem to be able to balance properly and either falls onto his beak or his side.
Tuesday 26th May	Timba appears to be picking on one of the red loreds from the group of 4 (Chach or Chell). It seems to be because he is also getting friendly with the  female white-fronted (another of the group of four). We can assume that Chachell is male and therefore persona non-grata in Timba's book. We've removed the red lored for a while to see if things calm down.
Monday 25th May	Still no sign of Chichi. Timba is very stressed - somersaulting and chewing at his feet. When he got onto the upper feeder, we opened the door and he went straight back inside without his precious Chichi. The twiddling stopped immediately
Sunday 24th May	This morning Timba was on the feeder and hanging out in the surrounding trees, but no sight or sound of Chichi. He was branch-twiddling again and looked extremely uncomfortable.
Saturday 23rd May	Timba and Chichi are finally out! It's taken a while - every time we get Timba to put his nose outside, Chichi runs down the tree and Timba scurries back in after her. Anyhow, at last they are both free. Timba was very unsure of himself, but Chichi took off, circling madly, as per the usual pattern of escapees. She seemed to be playing a rather cruel game with Timba - flying away and calling to him, but he seemed unwilling to follow. It's the first time we have seen him doing his 'stressy branch twiddles' since he went into the aviary (he turns somersaults over and over the branches when he's stressed). We feel bad for him and wonder if he was really ready for release. As dusk fell, they were reunited by the aviary. In hindsight, he looked much more pleased to see her than she did him..
Thursday 21st May	Jake had his splint off today and immediately tried to stand. It looks like a good fix, thanks goodness. This morning Timba was on the feeder and hanging out in the surrounding trees, but no sight or sound of Chichi. He was branch-twiddling again and looked extremely uncomfortable.
Tuesday 19th May	Spike is being incredibly aggressive towards humans For the last day or two we have had to arm ourselves with a stick to catch him on as he flies at our face. We think he (or she) may be protecting Blue, for whatever reason. They are not showing any signs of mating behaviour (which is fortunate) and Spike doesn't behave like he needs to leave home either.  We shall watch and hopefully learn..
Fruday 15th May	Chilli left home for what looks like the last time. She has been back and forth for a while now, spending random nights out, circling the house with her parrot friends and following them into the bush. Usually very friendly toward us, she has become increasingly aggressive and difficult. This is a very common pattern for 2nd year birds - they get past the cute baby stage and into hormonal adolescence -  and is the reason why we receive so many parrots at this stage in their lives. We need to wish Chili well and hope she shows her face in the future - just so we know for sure she's okay.
Wednesday 13th May	Time for Pinky & Perky to hit the big outdoors. The new enclosure is finally ready and they most definitely are! After a lot of biting and squawking (they bite, we squawk ) we managed to get both of them into a small cage and carried them out to their new home. They were unimpressed at first, but as the days wore on they got used to the big outdoors and learned the best places to sleep and how to ambush whoever dared to enter with food. They may be with us for another month or two before release.
Monday 11th May	Our neighbours brought us two ferruginous pygmy owls who's hollow-tree nest had fallen in high winds. There were four, but sadly two died on impact. Of the remaining two, one had a badly broken leg. We called our local wildlife vet, Dr Isabelle Paquet-Durand who attempted a splint - not easy on such a tiny creature. The following day, the splint slipped, so we returned to Dr Isabelle for a retry. This time, using adhesive tape and a padded cocktail stick, the little guy's make-shift cast held. He would need to keep it on for a week. Both owls were eating well, although Jake (the broken-leg) seemed a little less enthusiastic than his brother, Elwood.