Tooshtoosh Has Brought His Chicks

[briefvisit]

Yes, cutting the trees. No, not barren land. The gums regrow from the stumps.

How close to the house? The ground is trembling from semi-trailers rumbling past.

But the chicks -- and Felicity, who has come home for spring -- are adjusting very well.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Update on Tooshtoosh’s chicks



We’ve lost one of the five. Death confirmed; cause unknown.

The chicks have now been on their own for a season – Tooshtoosh left them in mid-winter. They remain a unit, but it seems they are slowly getting used to going off on their own for short periods.

LimpyChick Emu (adult female – their auntie) turned up the other day, and didn’t even squabble with them. They all sat quietly together to eat their wheat.

The chicks’ plumage is getting very adult-ish. You can just see a little ‘chick pinfeathers’ on their necks. They rarely cheep anymore. This is interesting: they cheeped incessantly when younger.

Meanwhile, the logging on my block continues. But the chicks have remained unfazed, grazing quietly even while machinery was operating quite close.



The reason we’ve had the chance to observe this clutch of chicks for over a year is because their Dad is a bit of a sook. He and LimpyChick were both injured and orphaned on the same day several years ago, and spent more time here than is usual for chicks. So the chicks were here because their Dad was here. So we got a unique observation.

 

[briefvisit]

One of the 'chicks' -- 15-mths-old now -- is male. This morning, he was getting his gurk mojo on.

Edit: OMG OMG!! I made the young male run away by making some (pretty poor) 'gurks.' And he has otherwise been wandering about himself, trying out this gurk business