At one point, SunRa put a rice cake on top of the babies and went off to eat with ChaCha. I took the rice cake out of the cage so he didn't get anymore bright ideas.
Periodically I can hear a high, rhythmic squeak which I know from observation is the sound of a parent bird aggressively pumping predigested food into the gaping maw of one of the tiny babies. When I went down to see them this afternoon, their crops were stretched to three times the size of the little heads. They're odd looking and scarily vulnerable and fragile but, silly as they are, SunRa and Cha seem to be good parents and to know what they're doing--most of the time, at least.
Someone with more talent than I possess documented their baby cockatiels' first 30 days in a charming and delightful video here.
I read an interview today that made me want to right poetry again; most of all it made me want to spend some serious, thoughtful time with the work of Dawn Potter in particular (Dawn is here interviewed by Nin Andrews) and current poetry in general. Both Mary Oliver and Billy Collins have recent books out as well. I am grateful for the noodling around and restful day that allowed me to run across and read the interview. Dawn is a smashing talent and her work grabs me by the heart.
The past couple of days I've put in some happy hours catching up on BBC4's "The Archers", the engrossing radio serial about the fictional UK town of Ambridge. Because my only first-hand experience of Great Britain is Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales, I picture Ambridge and surrounds as very like Skipton. The trials and triumphs of the farming families give me great comfort for some reason--and without fail each episode feeds my rampant Anglophilia. I've recently discovered that there are books about The Archers as well as some audio digests that go way back--I only started listening 10 years ago and it's been on since the 1950s so I have a lot of catching up to look forward to if I can chase these down!
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