Bird Brain!

Well, as I sit here and merrily tap away on the keyboard, the wind outside is doing its very best to prize the roofs off the houses of Stanley. Looking through the living room window, herds of white horses are prancing out by the Narrows, while every now and again the view is obscured by the odd shower of rain – which doesn't stick around long, due simply to the strength of the wind! Tonight's weather is in stark contrast to the blissful conditions of yesterday. In fact I even went running with shorts on for the first time since arriving here. The radio had predicted a sultry high temperature of 20° in some parts and although the wind had crept up again by the afternoon, it was really rather pleasantly warm. This is what it's like here. The weather changes at a drop of a hat - one day, the most beautiful songbird, the next, a roaring lion. Tonight we are definitely listening to a lion, and a grumpy one at that.

Again I must apologise for the lateness of another blog. Again my excuses are dominated by the amount of work I have to do. The Christmas holidays are rapidly approaching, when I will have 5, yes 5, blissful weeks to blog to my heart's content. The highlight should be our visit to Volunteer Point, to see the King Penguins, which we have booked already, and there are a few other trips planned, including New Year's Eve at Elephant Beach Farm on the west coast of the east island. That however, is for future blogs. The nature of this episode's content is of the feathery kind.

We have at last welcomed some new arrivals to the household, in the form of the webbed-feet, feathered variety. I arrived home from work on Wednesday evening to be greeted with a very excited Olivia, clutching a small, brown, fluffy duckling peering at me with its long neck. 3 more of the same were waddling around in the back passage way, along with another chick, to keep the already resident and rather bemused looking chick (now named Rita) company, which Olivia brought home from school a few weeks prior to this. Oh my god! The house had become a farmyard while I was away.

What can I say? Well, I have to admit the ducklings are incredibly cute. However, they are extremely messy! Not only do they defecate (putting it politely for blog purposes) everywhere, but they spill their drinking water everywhere as well, which only serves to make the stuff coming out of their back ends even messier. Add to this rather noxious mix, we had the chicks also doing their best to resemble industrial fertiliser-producers. This scenario was not going to continue long. The birds were going outside tomorrow.

During the day, the birds are out. They do not wander far from the coop structure that we have already made, preferring to stay near the food and water. In fact when they are left on their own, they quite often hide around the back of it or inside – I think they feel a little vulnerable being so small. We get some big, intimidating birds soaring around the skies here. During the night they are safely bedded down in the rather posh and brand new eco, flat-pack chicken coop we have also bought. I am not saying how much this thing cost us, but it's safe to say that Caz has now received her Christmas present for this year (Merry Christmas Caz!). These damn birds better produce eggs, and lots of them!

 Ducks, being ducks, do like the water. We have buried a kitchen sink (courtesy of a local builder) in the back garden for them to bath themselves, however it appears their favourite time of the day is the special bath Caz has been giving them in our own bath. In fact, they have enjoyed this so much that they all decided to bring themselves in through the open back door the other evening, and start heading straight for the bathroom. Bird brain indeed! Watching them paddle, duck and even swim lengths of the bath underwater is admittedly extremely funny, however I do wonder about the practical logistics of such an exercise when they get bigger… let alone the mess in the bath! This slap-stick comedy of a scene all happens under the watchful guidance of the new chick perching on the side of the bath. This chick has spent so much time with the ducks that it thinks it is a duck - to the extent of actually jumping in the bath with them at one point. Definitely bird brain!