New Additions...

After Scooter passed away there was a quiet void in our home. The corner once filled with chirps, squawks, and the famous angry bell had become still and silent. For me it took a few weeks to really register the fact that Scooter was gone, as I was away at work for most of the days and evenings immediately after his passing. However, for Bryn-Erinn the silence was deafening and isolating.
To my surprise she decided, sooner than either of us had expected, to get two new birds. She chose two different means of adopting. For the first, she wanted a young bird so she could train him and so he would be easier to integrate with another bird. For the other, she decided that she would rescue a bird who wasn't in a loving relationship. Following this ideal, she visited Pet Smart almost every day looking at the parakeets trying to find one that was interested in people and not particularly bonded to another bird. In the end she found a very small blue parakeet who likes to hold his left wing out for whatever reason (wing not pictured here, Bryn thinks he might have scoliosis). When he becomes scared or insecure his left wing quivers with great frequency. We both felt Lefty would have been a good name for him, but after much debate, we decided to call him Beaker - the name just stuck because Baby Beaker was cute. His training is going a little slow, as he hates to be away from his friend Lilly.

Bryn-Erinn found our other new friend on Craig's List. She saw the picture of a yellow bird in a very small cage and a description that her owners had lost interest in her. Bryn-Erinn took pity on this small creature and drove for over an hour to go and pick her up. To her horror, the cage was so small there was only room for food and water (both of which were empty) and no perches or toys. The family thought she was a boy and had named her Jeremiah. I felt it was a great Biblical name, but Bryn-Erinn thought she needed a new name to go with her new life. We decided on Lilly, as the flower can often be yellow and is the sign of springtime and new growth. It was also fitting as she has a bit of a temper, and it is during those times that we call her Lilith (Frasier's wife from "Cheers" who could be petulant and aggressive from time to time). Fortunately, she is warming and her temper is cooling. She still won't come out of her cage or sit on our finger, but she is learning how to play and sing, albeit tentatively. She has also gotten to the point where she will put one foot on our finger. It took several days for her to learn what a perch is for, but now she enjoys a spacious cage full of toys and mirrors. We are confident that with great patience and love, she will at some point be more outgoing and confident.

The two birds get along well. Lilly at first would beat up on Beaker, and was generally aggressive towards him. Now as he has grown and begins to mature he fights back and they appear to have reached an understanding. They have grown quite fond of eachother, and now kiss and preen eachother like normal birds do. We are pleased to have them in our lives, and Bryn-Erinn is fully occupied with their training and re-education. Scooter is sorely missed, but the fun our two new friends bring helps take the edge of off of the void left by Scooter.