Flown the Coop

Know what this is? It's an empty (utterly disgusting) air conditioner. That's what this is. I went to bed on May 10th and Little was still curled against my window, I got up May 11th and there were no pigeons to be found (including splattered on the ground below... which I checked for).

They're still coming back and forth to hang out, but they have, ostensibly, fledged. Every now and then one of them will be hanging out, and an adult I've never seen before will fly in and attempt to mate with them. Sigh. Kids today... what happened to the days when a BabyPigeon could play with PigeonLegos and PigeonTonkaTrucks for a few years before sexual maturity...

In case you're wondering, I am having the A/C removed on Thursday, and a new one put in which I will guard with my life. And by my life, I mean my fist pounding on the window whenever a pigeon lands.

So, folks. This seems to be the end of our Baby Pigeon journey. Thanks for caring as much as I do.  If I see them again I'll say my goodbyes for you. And next time a filthy winged rat swoops too close to your open mouth, just think... that could be one of Lynne's...

One Is The Lonliest Number...

I'm way overdue. My apologies to [precisely no one] who is desperate to follow Little and Big's comings and goings.  At the moment, it looks like we're headed into some significant Goings.

Big has fledged. Sort of.  He's made it all the way to my other window ledge, about 4 feet from the A/C, as evidenced here. Hard to see, as always, but that's ParentPigeon on the right, and that's Big on the left, attacking ParentPigeon for food in this new exciting locale.

(And, in case you're curious, in the foreground, that's a book about bicycles on the left, a pen and ink drawing of my hometown on the right, and a tiny black bear figurine in the center.)

What's killing me right now is Little, still a couple days behind Big, giving my camera this sad state of affairs.

That's Little, all alone on the A/C, watching Big feed from Parent, and giving me the peeky-eye just to be safe.  Now, whenever a Parent flies to the second window, Big flies in to follow, and Little is left alone, peeping at both of them.  As I type, there are no parents around, just Big on the second window preening, and Little curled up against my window on the A/C, trying to avoid the rain.  I guess they finally got their own rooms...

Now, I am FULLY aware of the anthropomorphizing in which I am currently participating, but Little looks so sad, so alone. Thank goodness I have therapy this afternoon... this damn little pigeon is dredging up every memory I carry around about being a lonely little only child, or about watching other kids do stuff I wasn't ready for, or about any general mourning for changes in status quo.

I'll live. Believe me. But I'm hoping Little gets up the guts to try out the second-window-journey sometime soon - partially to ease my heartache, and partially so that I can finally get this A/C removed and replaced.

Speaking of... anyone have an HVAC professional they really like...?