Bianca Begins to Fly!

This one is the new fiance of Perla (behind her). I bought her on Feb.10 and they were in the cage till some days ago. Now, since Caruso became too aggressive I decided to change the couples: Caruso with Cannella  live now in this little aviary and Perla con Bianca (I decided to call her so for her white color) went in the great aviary. I was sure, the situation will be normal because she is still little and does not think about the family.

Everything was all right with the exception that she was all time walking on the floor of the aviary. With my great surprise I understood: she does not know to fly... Terrible! Probably, she lived all her life in a little cage... And if she does not fly, she will not eat. She is so little and fragile - she will die.

I tried to teach her... But she seemed to have even not all feathers. I was desperate. I have not an other cage  for her. And I wanted to see her flying with the other birds. But what can I do? In the evening I've seen her sitting on one of the branches. Oooo!!!! Great! I cried.

Today, I've seen her flying. Not very sure flight but she was flying! It was so beautiful!

Eurasian Coot near Naples, Italy

We went northward of Naples to visit some of my husband's friends who are bird lovers. On the way, we had to cross a little river that was more similar to an irrigation channel. Middle of the autumn is the time when many birds fly to south over our zone and we often hear their voices. It's not too easy to see them because they often fly in the night. I don't know why they do it but I think they know about the danger of hunters and that they sleep in the night. :-)))

Crossing the river, we've seen some ducks on the water and wanted to make some photos of them.
As usually I had only my cell and could not make the shuts better but I think, you can believe me.

My husband sees better than me and as a bird lover he knows different bird species, so he cried: These are coots! Look here, you can see them here!

Well, coots or not, all the ducks were just hidden in the rushes when we neared them and I took some photos only when they did not see me. And, unfortunately, it's impossible to understand what species are those.

In any case I was very happy to see that there are still alive beings in the wild nature in this region because I've seen that there are too many persons with the guns and there is not any wild animal or bird who is so courageous to live in the day time.

How to Raise Game Birds

Game birds are difficult to raise without experience, I have to say you. My husband, how goes in for birds generally but never had game birds before, decided to try with them this year. He bought different kinds of birds in winter beginning with quails -casually, and now we have something terrible: birds, birds and birds in every corner since they do not want to live together with those they do not know.

Everything is relatively easy with mini-hens that we have now, too. There are not great differences between big, normal and little hen's chickens growing. The only problem we have now with one of very little of them is that it doesn't want to eat anything except boiled eggs.

Game birds are different. Some of them are too little, others born with something wrong. One is born today with legs that it can't take together. Probably it is destined to die. We had just one birdy with the legs this way...

Others, rock partridges, are hooligans. But they lived in peace with the chickens they were born the same period. We had to separate them because the chickens are just walking in the garden but the rock partridges fly away even if they turn than back to the chickens. But cats etc. can catch them.

The best are surely pheasants. Calm and friendly with everybody, even with the newborns.

Cormorants -A Beach in Argentine

When you think about a beach, you surely imagine persons with bikini that are laying on the sand. But some birds and animals think the beaches are for them and not for persons. Maybe, they feel comphortable, I don't know, maybe they are so acustomed that the persons do not damage them... I'm very surprised always when I see all of them that have not any fear for the humans., They are sure, we never will do something bad for them. Specially, it's about cats and dogs but the wild animals are not more suspicious. My husband passed some weeks with his family in rgentine and -since it's summer there- they wanted to walk near the water one day.



They found a great company of cormorants there. Nothing could disturb them, as you can see, even the motorboats could not help to finish this excellent meditation:

Our new Virginia Quail

We have a new member in our "factory". It's a nestling of Virginia Quail. My husband dreamed to by them for much time, and we have 7 qualis now. So, he decided to buy this species of quail, too. There are not many amateurs of the not factory birds here but some "mad" men have them for fun,too. My husband found 2 of them in our region. One wil have the little birds to sell in December, other said we can come to take them.

We had to travel long enough till that factory. The man has all species of birds for the factory. But he has some species for hunting. And he really had some nestlings. We did not see that they were too little. And one of them was dead. Unfortunatelly. The other is in the incubator and seems to feel good. Here is our Virginia Quail

Pigeons without Fear

The wild pigeons are normally -and with all the reason- afraid of everything. It's possible that they near you to take a peace of bread or something similar but they do not trust the persons.

Very often you can see the pigeons without one "foot" or one or some fingers. I don't know if it's the all-the-world problem for these birds or only in this part of it. But it's very frequent mutilation. I've seen this pigeon on the balcony of the Nautic Museum in Naples.

The bird was sitting calm when I went out to see the other beautiful view. It was strange because I was dangerously near it. Than, curious to see this behaviour I neared it from the other side -it continue to sit.With my photo camera and sounds it produces, I was not very familiar being but the pigeon did not move.

I left it sit there. Now, I think, the pigeon was probably ill.

Cormorant in Salerno

When I came in Salerno for my shift in museum this morning, I had about an hour free before I had to open the site. I adore the seaside of Salerno, and it's my custom to walk there when I have time. So, I went there with the desire to take sun. I did not decide what direction to choose when I've seen an interesting scene: on the stones that brake waves was a cormorant in the pose of Christ in Rio de Janeiro.





I had only my cell with me and tryed to make a short from the part of the sun as you see. Than, I run some meters to take a photo from the other side of the cafè but it was just too late. The cormorant closed his wings. And it was nothing other except many seagulls on other stones. Unfortunatelly, they are practically invisible on the photo. Probably, I need a better cell. :-)))



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Shell Parakeet

«Там, где волнистые попугаи» на Яндекс.Фотках

This scene, on the photo, I would like to live in my house. I like parakeets. By the way, could you write me the right name of this parrot in English ?

When I lived with my parents I had a couple of this parrots and thery were very interesting to observe. I had to pass many hours at work every day and that is why I had 2 parrots. If you have a couple they will never speak. If you want it speaks, you have to buy it when it is 36 days old. It's not necessary you cover the cage with black foulard or something like this. This parrots like to stay with the humans and they repeat every your movement and every word they hear. And they like listen to you. They will ask you you speak and will letterally look in your mouth. So, it's very easy that they begin to speak.

Once More About Kakapo

This beauty is called Strigops habroptilus o Kakapo that means in Maori-language "nighttime parrot". The photo on the left is from the Kakapo Recovery Programme that I visit from time to time to have the newest notices about this bird. You know that I follow 2 programs: the Gorilla Saving Program too. So, these 2 sites about the 2 of the most endangered animals.

Imagine that is possible to go to work as a volunteer there (there is a special page for those who wants to try this way to help this incredible parrot). Sincerely I would like to do it. As you know, I live all the life with animals and birds, am mother, veterinarian and everything and everybody for them, and am not afraid to remain completely alone day and night. But there are many other terms and conditions... And it's too far...

So, the only thing I can do for them is to tell about to all you who reads this blog. And hope you enjoy to read about them.

Poor Cock

We had this very sad story in the last days and I wanted to tell you about the fate of the birds.

I think, it's similar for many nations to imagine the life of the birds as something ideal, romantique, good. Russians, for example, compare pigeons with a loving married couple, swans as sweethearts etc.

From the time I live here I can observe the life of pigeons and hens, and we had other birds too. Their life is not different from the life of humans. There are heroes, traitors, killers and all sorts of others. They are cruel and brutal towards their similars and if one shows signs of illness others will kill it.

But the life of the birds is so fragile to leave you with the mouth open. Today is everything good, it's happy and content, tomorrow it becomes deadly ill and all your tentations to heal it are vain.

Our cock was so healthy and happy to have his hens and his life till 2 -3 days ago. He slept on the floor of the henhouse. Than I see him with the tail down, he does not want to move. But he went with the hens for their walk (they are in the garden all days long). My husband controlled what he has and saw, the rats ate him the legs in the night. They ate him alive. And he began to putrefy. Alive. Ans was full of worms.
We did everything we could to save him, but we found him worse next morning and my husband had to kill him.

So are the birds. If they become ill is rarely possible they get better...

Birds In Spring

This is an example of how is the "audio" near our house in this period.



Unfortunatelly I'm not able to create podcasts so I have to use the videos of YouTube.

This is very interesting period in country life. There are many birds and all they chant all days long. If you wake up early in the morning, you can hear all the birds together. Than, later, someone sings other is busy.

Maybe I'm not right and the main singers here are not nightingales but blackbirds. We have many of them. Interesting is that they like to walk. (and the cats like it too). I noticed that many birds like to walk. Sometimes our pigeons made all the road till the henhouse walking, when I wanted them to turn back in their place.

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About Ugly Duckling

Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling Fable read with my photos and some comments...

Once upon a time down on an old farm, lived a duck family, ... and many many duck families too. And for this reason there were many-many-many little ducklings

and not only ducklings but chickens too

and not only chickens but many many beautiful goslings


"I can't understand how this ugly duckling can be one of mine!" she said to herself, shaking her head as she looked at her last born. Well, the gray duckling certainly wasn't pretty, and since he ate far more than his brothers, he was outgrowing them.

One day at sunrise, he saw a flight of beautiful birds wing overhead. White, with long slender necks, yellow beaks and large wings, they were migrating south.

The flight of swans winged north again and glided on to the pond. When the duckling saw them, he realized he was one of their kind, and soon made friends.

«Восторг» на Яндекс.Фотках

So Many Beautiful Ducks!

I hope you will enjoy these different types of ducks.
Normally we imagine the ducks so as we learned about them in our childhood. More or less. But there are so many colors and sizes.

We have not ducks at home because they need water to be happy, says my husband and it's difficult to have enough water here on our hill. So, he never wanted to buy them.
From other side, they are as dogs, he says. Who will kill them than?

Specially I like Mandarinas and those other, similar, I forgot the name. Caroline, says my husband. The 2 last photos here. I don't know if somebody eats them. They are very beautiful to have near the house. There was a factory part for kids in Naples Zoo and there were these ducks. It could be real pleasure to have them in the yard...

Cute Flying 2-Days-Old Ducklings

When I watch something in TV, I do not notice different things. The TV is too fast. And the informations follow one after other and hardly remain in the head. That is why I like to find them in YouTube. I can watch them with calm.

I'm sure, you've seen this documentary. But watch it once more. I'm sure you will understand what I'm speaking about.

Birds Love Ice Cream Too

I was surprized to see a great gallery of photos showing the seagulls steal ice creams. I could not imagine that the birds love sweeties too.

Our dogs eat bisquits, Murka eats cakes sometimes. Normally am I to learn them this sin. Once we had a rottweiler of a friend for some days. I gave him bisquits but he did not know what they are. He ate them to make me a pleasure, for the first time. But he was the first to ask me them a day later.
Our hens can eat bisquits too, but they seem do not prefere them. And the pigeons did not eat them at all.

That is why I was surprized to see photos in that site.

Birds In Winter

«Удачный денёк!! :))» на Яндекс.Фотках

We hear many different birds in this last period near our house. Yes, it's not so cold here, but it continue to rain. So it seems marvellous to hear this great activity in winter period. But I think the birds feel the beginning of the spring. It's posible to feel the smell of the spring now. Have you noticed that change of the season begins with change of the smell? The smell changes some days earlier as the climatic conditions.

One of my relatives wrote me yesterday they have -21°C and it's difficult to work out of the house now (he repairs machines). When I lived in SU I knew about only some birds that continue to live in winter in Russia (2 of them you see on the photos). Here we have many resident birds. I could never make photos of that birds -only some of them are easily to see. I hope to do it this year maybe.


«Лазоревка» на Яндекс.Фотках

How Pigeons Sleep

«Красиво сидим!» на Яндекс.Фотках

It is interesting to notice where the birds sleep in the town. We used to walk on the seaside of Salerno in the evening for some time. There are some big trees among all that incalculable plants there. These trees are preferite of the birds. Sparrows, I think. They were invisible in the night but they love to speak before they asleep. The noise they create with discussing their problems is so loud that it's unpossible to stay near these trees.

There are many rats in the streets of Salerno. They are not afraid of the persons and they know to walk from one tree to the other walking on the branches (we've seen it with our eyes), so I think the birds are afraid of the rats too.

By the way, I don't understand why they, rats, feel so good there because the town is clean enough and the municipality makes much tokill them. But...

Well, when I went to Salerno some days ago, I've seen an other place for overnight. Those were pigeons. They were sitting on the fence with more or less the same distance one from an other. And those on the "floor" slept too! I've never seen such a meeting in tis place. It's a preferite place for dog-owners and homeless persons (there is water there) and they come often to eat with their bags there.

'Parrot Of The Night'

Do you like KAKAPO? (Great name, eh?)
You can't not love them. They are so incredible!

I've seen a film about kakapo for the first time some years ago. Yesterday my husband found an other film about them and fortunately called me to come (I had to cook something to eat) but I saw only the last minutes of the story. So I wanted to read last news about this bird today and found a site with a blog of the rangers from the place where the kakapo live.

This is the address of the site: Kakapo Recovery Programme
and the photo is form this site, clear.

There are only 86 kakapo. But the very nice news are that they have 7 babies! 4 girls and 3 boys!

Forgot to say it: they were practically extinct because of the rats that humans took in New Zealand. These parrots can't fly, they walk. And they walk in a very funny way. And they need very great territory.

I found a video!

Colombaccia, Wood Pigeon hunting

We have 2 strange towers in our street (don't look at me soo, it's our street on the first photo too). I thought always, those are Medieval guard towers, but somebody said me, it's not true: those towers were used to hunt Colombaccia.




What is this: colombaccia? It's a sort of wild pigeon, columba palumbus, Wood Pigeon. (Photo from this site). It's bigger than other pigeons and that is why, I think, was and is so interesting for hunters. These pigeons have white lines down the middle of the wing and are easy to distinguish. Once they were very numerouse in our zone, I think, and maybe migrated in autumn and spring, these I'm not sure. The internet sites like this don't say they are migrating birds.

I tell you here about a story I read in old books.
Once Wood Pigeons were sooo numerous that they migrated in great flocks. The hunters spread enormous nets on their ways over the mountains. And from the towers they watched if the flocks are coming in the direction of the net. Because, they say, the most difficult part of this hunt was, that they had (and have today too) to study winds and clouds, the colour of the sky, examinate territory befor the hunt begun. And had to wait many days.

Today hunters use guns. And maybe it's not so terrible for the population of pigeons. But sometimes they blind one-two pigeons to use them to attract others. Today they do it with special bung. The pigeons make noise with their wings and others come in this place too.

In the years I live here, I've never seen great flocks of Wood Pigeon. "La Colombaccia" is now a restorant that remembers the old times.

Seasonal migration of birds

One of world's leading experts on endangered species is David Wilcove. He wrote a book about migrations of birds and in poor words he thinks, migrating birds have not way home.

I know about this problems from the times I live in Italy and so wanted to look for more information around the internet.

There are many problems that have birds in their migrations ad the main of them is the human activity. Changes that human make on the roads of migration. So some persons thought to change this situation and to help the birds. Somebody builds houses for birds others think to cover lights over New York. Somebody wants to prevent seasonal migration (India)


In Italy, I hear about it every year, the hunters know that those are last existing individuals, but shoot them. And the persons that protect the birds too (Sicilia). In other places people understood what they lose only when the swallows don't came in spring more. Really sad.
Here where I live we see sometimes the birds flying over our heads. And there are zones of protection too. But how to do that poor birds know, where to go?

Did you know it?
One.The birds have different types of migrations. In spring they go in the places where they will make the family. After the nestlings are ready to fly, the birds can "wander" from place to place (and there are birds that pass their life "wandering"). This can help them to create the unite storm for migration too. And finally there are autumnal migrations to the warm and reach on food in winter places.

Two.There is a science, named phenology that studies seasonal changes in the nature. Like when this plant opens it's flowers and why?For ex. swift (on the photo) comes in Kaluga/Russia 2 weeks later as befor.