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	September 2009
Tuesday 15th September   Updates	Pepe, Blue, Pinky & Perky are still very much in the area. We have dawn and dusk fly-pasts, which we have been trying desperately hard to photograph, but they are extremely quick!   We are starting to see visits from 'wild' birds now. This morning we saw two red loreds and 4 white-fronted land near the aviary and several pairs pass overhead. Now is a great time for releases as the birds are starting to find mates and nest sites and there is increasing activity in the area.       Blackberries are in season and we found that the parrots go wild for them.   Our babies are still enjoying their soft food twice a day: definitly more for taste than out necessity.           Jake is still around. We shouldn't be suprised as he was born in this area, so the habitat is suitable, and Jerry is still leaving the occasional lump of fillet steak on his cage in the mornings. Of course he's still around! He won't let us close though and flies off the moment we're around. He tolerated us long enough for us to get this cute shot of him in a flamboyant tree.	Blue & Pepe   Joanna & Katy and lots of blackberries   Jake
Friday 4th September   Chili & Spike return	Today we had two of our releases return to the fold - but not in a good way.   Long story short, we were alerted to the possibility that Chili may be held prisoner at a farm down the road. Sure enough - not just Chili, but Spike too. The person who had them would not give us the real story as to how he managed to capture them. We admit that Chili was too tame and it transpires that this person's daughter had contact with Chili on a regular basis. But Spike amazes us: he would not voluntarily go to anyone and was a very aggressive bird. Looking at the state of his feet, we suspect a glue trap, but we will probably never know the truth. Unfortunately, both birds have had their wings severely clipped, so it will be some time before they are flying again.   It is quite a knock-back to us as the releases were going so well up until now. We have our critics, and not the least criticism of what we do is that parrots who have had contact with humans are unsuitable forrelease as they will readily go to humans. However, based on our 5 year experience releasing captive parrots, we know this to be largely untrue, and thankfully have far greater evidence of successes than of failures.	Chili   Spike