Cockatoos in the Wild -- or Wild in Civilization

I found some more cool pictures on the Tall One's hard drive. These are cockatoos in a place called Middle Harbor, which is a part of Sydney. They fly around as they please, and they like to eat fruit from the trees and look for seeds on the ground. They are wild, but so used to people that the Tall One could get really close to take their picture.

Sydney, Australia

The humans seem to have a habit of building big things wherever they go. I think it's because they don't have cages. They compensate by creating all kinds of structures so they can go inside and feel safe, and then they visit each other's buildings and take pictures of them. Sydney, where my human went, is a good example. Here are some pictures my Tall One took of the city. I especially like the Harbor Bridge, because it looks like a very big bird cage. Here is a close-up:

The Opera House looks like a lot of beaks. I think it's very interesting, and I'm happy that the humans tried to memorialize our beaks by building it, but I wouldn't be comfortable going too close. It reminds me too much of the big birds that tried to eat me. From a distance, though, it's okay.

Cockatiel News

That Tall One is completely crazy! She took over 1000 pictures! It will take me forever to look through all of them! I did find a cockatiel picture, though. I heard her telling the Cool One that she took it at the zoo, where the cockatiels were displayed as pets in the children's exhibit.

I was surprised that they were not with the wild birds, and I was disappointed that the Tall One did not see any in the wild. Then I heard her telling the Cool One that she went to a bird show at the zoo and asked the zookeeper about the tiels. He said that they travel in flocks all over the place, and that they don't have any predictable patterns of where they will be at any given time. Some people go looking for them for months and never see them, and others just come upon them unexpectedly.

Thinking about it, that's no surprise. We cockatiels are very smart, and so we are unpredictable. Of course, we like it that way...

The Tall One Is Back -- And So Am I!

Mes amis,

I apologize for my long absence. The Tall One did hide her computer, just as I feared, and after she got back, she kept hogging it to print pictures of her trip. She finally ran out of ink, and as soon as she left for work, I got online to update you.

While she was gone, the Cool One took good care of us. He came over every day and stayed with us for a long time. I liked it when he played with me! He held me upside down a lot!

When the Tall One finally got back, I was happy at first that 24-hour service had returned; it is very annoying when there is no butler around during the day to take care of me. I sat on her shoulder and preened her hair, and I even let her pet me and pick me up.

Don't you think after being gone so long she would want to be with me all day long? I like my Tall One, but she does not have her priorities straight. She actually went to work the day after she got back instead of staying with me! So I bit her the next time she tried to pick me up, and I even flew right towards her with my beak wide open to scare her. I turned at the last second and landed on the cage, but I think she got the message, because she cooked some of the yummy tortellini for me.

Now that I can finally get to the computer, I'll look through the pictures she took so I can share them with you!

Au revoir!

The Trip

I've finally found out what the Tall One is doing. I heard her discussing it with the Cool One on the phone. She is so fascinated by Miss Prissy and me that she is going on a trip to Australia, my ancestoral homeland, to research my relatives. The pink dress I saw is for her sister's wedding, who lives in Sydney; since she is there to look for birds anyway, I guess she will see her sister and her parents. The Cool One is coming over every day while she is gone to take care of us.

I'll be glad when he is. The Tall One has been staying up late and getting up early to put clothes in soft blue boxes with wheels, and trying to clean the apartment, without much success, in my opinion, but then I don't really care; as long as the cage is clean and the Cool One can find the birdseed, which is stacked right in front of my cage, I'm happy. I'm just afraid that she'll take the computer away while she's gone. If I can get the old computer to turn on and to get on the internet, I might be able to update my blog, even though it will be slow; if you don't hear from me, you'll know why. Luckily, she's only gone for a week and a half.

What Are You Up To, Tall One?

The Tall One really seems to think my computer belongs to her! She has been carrying it around everywhere, even when she went to visit a friend overnight. She called the last week Spring Break, but Miss Prissy and I did not get much of a break. It was business as usual.

Today is the first day of the Tall One's work routine, so I was finally able to get back on the computer once she left for work. She has been acting very strangely. Her hair is much more curly than before, and she would not let Miss Prissy and me preen it. She said something about chemicals that might be dangerous for us. Now, I know she is paranoid about our safety, but that is going too far. Who would put chemicals in their hair???

She has also been gone a lot, and she's been coming home with all kinds of things in plastic bags. One of the strangest ones was a big piece of clothing she called a dress. It's a pretty pink, just like the fun necklaces and earrings she brought home, but she would not put them on so we could play with them. What good is clothing and jewelry if I can't play with it? It seems like she is saving those things for a special occasion, but what can be more special than playing with Miss Prissy and me?

Something is going on, and I don't know what it is. It might have something to do with that mysterious trip she has been planning. I'm not sure what she is going to do. I hope the Cool One comes over soon. Maybe she will discuss it with him, and I'll finally know what's going on.