“Ow, ouch, ow!”
He seemed to say.
Every August I notice the American Goldfinches when they visit the spiky seed heads of the coneflowers beside our mailbox. It might be their bright color or it could be their flight call, which sounds like “po-ta-to-chip”, that gets my attention, I’m not sure.
Whatever it is, the visits of these wild canaries always makes me smile.
Meet Midge the Pidge. She’s an independent homing pigeon who gives herself flowers, just because.
She’s fierce, determined, and able to balance on the slippery dome of a glass insulator with no problem. She can fly 600 miles in race competitions as well as raise up to five broods in a single year.
And she always finds her way home.
Day 94/100
Derwent water soluble sketching pencils and Derwent Inktense Poppy Red watercolor pencil.
My seven-year-old granddaughter has a list of things she wants to do. Petting and holding a bird is one of the items and we marked it complete this weekend.
Friend and author, John Bender, World Cup Champion in roller pigeon competition, graciously invited us to visit the lofts where he houses his pigeons so Ellie could fulfill her wish.
His granddaughter, Hannah, showed Ellie how to properly hold a bird. She even gave her an egg to keep. John went on to say if the egg was kept in the underarm for three days, it would hatch. She didn’t fall for it, but had questions, which he patiently answered.
John’s book, The Pigeon Trainer and the Birmingham Roller, shares his decades long journey to become the World Cup Champion and includes tips on how he picked and trained his world-champion group of birds. It’s a how-to on flying or raising pigeons, color-breeding and training.
Day 59/100