Plus... he has done, and is doing, such a superb job of parenting that at times we forget he had help bringing these wee creatures into the world. It seems that he does all the work these days and he worries about the youngsters a whole heck of a lot more than Mommy does. For the past several days Mommy has had to be isolated from the wee ones because she is apparently intent on defeathering  the larger and older of the two. 

Penny is already intent on building a new nest  and although she isn't using the results of her plucking as nest material  she seems to take a perverse pleasure in  feeding and then immediately plucking the wee yellow and white baby. As a result Penny and Petey now live in the big cage  and Petey travels between the two cages to feed his babies. He is one busy boy. And doing a magnificent job ! He doesn't just feed them ... he makes certain they get a balanced diet.  Before he starts feeding he  goes to the soft egg food dish, then the seed dish,  then to the gravel dish, to the lettuce, the cuttle bone for a bit of calcium, and then water to wash it all down. Once he has completed all of this he digests the food and only when this ritual has been completed does he proceed to feed his wee ones.

 Plus when he returns to Mommy he feeds her too. I have come to the conclusion that female canaries have it much easier than  we women do ... she calls the shots and she gets away with anything she darn well pleases. Petey worries about her almost as much as he worries about the babies. Petey would have helped with this page himself as he really enjoys showing off his babies but as he is far too busy at the moment  with more important matters he is allowing me to do the honours. Meet the  wee ones. No names yet .. we aren't sure if we have boys or girls and we also are having trouble coming up with generic names which begin with "P"

 These wee ones aren't even starting to eat on their own  yet but they are flying as if they have been doing it forever. When they aren't flying they are fighting over who is going to sit on the swing. Amazing, but true ... Mommy still can't manage to get onto the swing but both these little darlings hop on just like Daddy does  with no problem at all. They really do fight over it ... it's so amusing to watch ... the one that wins sits there and swings as proud as punch surveying the cage and their sibling with a look which clearly says ... 'this is MINE'. The darker of the two even tried to sleep there the other  night but I  finally convinced him ( I somehow think he is a boy) that it might be better to be on a solid perch as I was worried he might fall off during the night. They still sleep on both legs and I'm not sure the claws clamp on to the perch like they do when they are sitting on one leg.

 The past 20 days have been an experience and an eye opener as well.  I have always had  a great deal of respect for Nature's wonder but have a whole new appreciation  as a result of observing the instincts of the parents and  watching these tiny beings develop. Until Penny became  interested in again becoming a Mommy she was a very attentive and responsible parent and Petey has been absolutely phenomenal.  From tiny little squiggly naked beings the babies have developed at an amazing rate into beautifully feathered canaries. It's been a lot of work, and on occasion a little worrying, but I wouldn't have missed the experience.

Having said that  ... I'm not too certain we're ready to start the process all over again. Starting an aviary really isn't in our plans although Petey, Penny and Pixie appear to have other ideas. Both gals are now sitting on  eggs again  and  the present babes will be fully independent by the time the new ones arrive. Nature certainly does things  according to a correct timetable. Amazing.
 
 

Hey ... What's out there?		Gee... Mommy sure makes a great blanket
Now we'll get food !		We sure had more privacy in the eggs !
Sheesh! she wants more pictures		Maybe we can hide under Mommy
Try coming up here .. there's lots to see!		Yeah, I know it's easier for me ... I'm older
Wake up .. you're missing everything !		Here comes the guy with the camera again!
I'm a big kid now !		It's hard holding on to this dumb thing !
Flying around sure wears you out !		This swinging is a blast !
Now we are just like Mommy and Daddy !		Don't be angry Daddy ... I just followed you

It's taken a few days to find time to complete this page so we are now at day 24  and in about 6 more days poor Petey won't be quite as busy ... for about a week that is ! Then he will have two females and goodness knows how many babies to feed. As of this morning the gals have produced a total of 10 eggs between them and I'm not quite sure they are finished yet ! How many contain babies is anyone's guess at the moment. I'm beginning to think it's a competition between Penny and Pixie and when Penny saw yesterday that Pixie had 5 she decided she was going to match or better her !  With the first layings they both had laid 4. Pixie's were infertile and only 2 of Penny's hatched. I had expected the same quantity  this time. The gals obviously decided differently. Poor Petey ... bet at times he wishes he was still a bachelor.

 One thing I have learned from this experience ... our Petey is even more special than we  have always thought. His patience and concern for these babies and their Mommy  has been  absolutely  limitless. He even shows that he knows how to administer loving discipline to these little brats when they misbehave. When they accidentally  escape from the safety of the cage Petey sounds an alarm which can be heard  across the street I think. He then proceeds to follow the escapee and supervise their exploration while at the same time sending out signals  to allow us to come to his assistance  in returning the miscreant to it's safe haven. Only once the escapee has been safely returned to it's cage does Petey calm down and proceed to scold his wee babe. The scolding is invariably followed by him nuzzling their beak and feeding them a treat. Guess he figures they have worked up an appetite after their adventure.

 You will notice that the pictures above don't include one of Daddy feeding the babies. There's a very good reason for that . Petey knows the minute the camera is within range and absolutely refuses to be photographed while performing this duty. He stops feeding immediately and tells us off in no uncertain terms. Being sneaky doesn't work either ... he outsmarts us every single time. He will only return to feeding  when the camera disappears  and he is left in peace. We have given up trying and have accepted that Petey considers this a private time not for public viewing. Who knows? Maybe he thinks it would blow his 'kool' image to be caught feeding babies. Goodness knows, he is certainly  willing to be photographed at other times and in fact is a real ham for the camera so we have decided we should respect his wishes and not intrude.

 Of course it may be decided for me as Les is far more stubborn than I am  and probably knows that all he has to say is " How can you even consider giving away Petey's children ?" He knows Petey is very, very special to me. Maybe it's best that we just  take our time and find really good loving homes for most of the babies because after all with so many around they wouldn't  get the personal attention that their Daddy always has, and will always continue to receive. Common sense tells me that should be the game plan.  Oh well, time will tell. In the meantime its kinda nice having so many happy sounds around the house and a little extra work never really hurt anybody. It's all worthwhile when Petey jumps onto my shoulder and reaches over to give me a kiss which he does frequently. Our Petey may be a Daddy now but he is still our sweet affectionate little guy with a very definite mind of his own. Between you and me ... that little guy has me wound right around his little toe. Always has, and I guess always will.

May 30 2003

Well, the new baby saga is now completed and the one surviving wee one is fully independent. There were two babies, again both Penny's, but only one was healthy. The second one, although the larger of the two, was quite sickly and like Puffin was born blind in one eye as well. That in itself would not have hindered him having a normal life if Puffin is any indicator but he(or she) also had several other problems which caused us to reach  an inevitable conclusion after discussion with our vet. She took care to see that  the baby was given relief.

The one new family member is again a boy and a wonderful singer. Daddy does pass on  his wonderful musical ability to all his wee ones it would seem.  This wee guy  has the most unusual colouring on his chest and throat. It looks as if he is wearing an ascot of soft yellow and taupe. Quite unusual I think. He sorta grew into his name. As his colouring became apparent we found ourselves calling him Poncho and the name seemed to suit,  so Poncho it is ! He is as feisty as his Daddy and almost as smart. If he wants out of the cage a tiny fact like my arm being in the doorway cleaning the cage doesn't slow him down for even a second. He just climbs on my arm and uses it as his own personal runway.

You will find pictures of Poncho in the Photo Album which you can reach from Petey's Nook Index .

Oh yes, Pixie once again tried to hatch her eggs without any assistance from Petey or Punkin, although for a while there we thought she might decide to team up with Punkin, and again she was unsuccessful. Poor Pixie ... she just doesn't seem to realize what the secret is to successful hatching. She is so darn sweet and  does everything right .. except  the most important part !

 For now at least the hatchery is CLOSED. No more nest building for this year. It's simply too difficult to decide which to keep and which to allow to go to new homes. And frankly cleaning cages is already too time consuming! We have reluctantly parted with  two members of the family. Penny and Puffin have left us. But that was not a happy experience  even though they have gone to exactly the right home. You can read about that decision in Petey's Nook.

Nook Index