the wild pigeons of Salisbury beach part 84

Yup, we still go out early morning and feed the pigeons. After I feed them it can be kind of funny because they will run after me looking for more. I look like the Pied Piper of pigeons with this herd of fifty or more pigeons running after me.
Yesterday, I had a craving for some beach pizza. After I walked Mattie I stopped by the beach for a slice of pizza. As I sat in my car (it was freezing out!) enjoying my pizza watching the waves crash on the shore I noticed a guy feeding the pigeons.The pigeons seemed to recognize this guy who worked at one of the local beach front bars..They were on his head and sitting on his hand.
I know sometimes in the morning the pigeons will jump on my arm to get the first dibs at the food.I found it refreshing that someone else cared about the pigeons too. Usually I am harassed by the "40-something-guy-who-still-lives-with-his-mother". I usually smile brightly at him and say,"hi" to diffuse the situation but he just scowls and tries to sic his dog at the birds.
He is kind of an Assh@le, really.
Just recently, I've noticed a lady taking photos of the pigeons early morning just after I feed them.I approached her and said,"I'm glad you appreciate the beauty of these pigeons!" She told me she had been observing my interaction with the birds and found it fascinating. She has been photographing  me with birds and would like to share some of those photos.
Hopefully we will meet up and I will post some of those photos. :-)

I can't wait for christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVIzyqT05Oc
* this is first time in a long time I've listened to a decent Christmas song. Well done Mindi Ahair!

OK is it my imagination or does the time fly by in a blur?!
It seems as though when Labor Day hits there is this shroud that starts to come down.
I start to get panicky for some reason, and depressed. I notice that my tan starts to fade. I wonder if the trees feel this way when their leaves start to turn?
And of course, when Halloween hits I resign myself that the cold weather is coming as the mornings become darker and darker.I am now feeling like compost instead of colorful leaves.
And then we are catapulted into Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The good thing about Christmas is that you are busy doing stuff.
I like picking out and sending cards. I like the glittery dress up parties. Black Friday (and shopping in general)  is a sport for me. Some things aren't as fun for me anymore but that is OK I 've adapted.
I just put up a small live tree with just few ornaments. Things are different and times change but again, I'm Ok with that.
And yet,I still feel sick after the holidays are over. I don't do well in the winter. I try to brace myself for the dark, cold, biting slide into January and February-although I dread it.
Right now, I am just going to focus on fun Christmas activities enjoying those moments with friends and family.

Frankenpigeon part 7

I got a call from my vet informing the results of the cytology report that was done on the inside of the sinus cavity when the cyst fell off.
It is indeed a bacterial infection that is deep in the bone-just as we seen on a previous cytology report. The offending bacteria was klebsiella.
At least it wasn't a mycobacterium (TB)
Regardless, the medicine used should have been effective against this bacteria. I've used so many different and strong antibiotics./antifungals/antiprotozoa.
Clindamycin is the med of choice for bone infections. Craow Dum had been on this med for six weeks twice daily.. I know as far as dental abscesses in the bone this would be the drug of choice but so would surgery and debridement of the area.
The hole on his head is closing up.I clean the area with chlorahexidine and suction with a syringe to get debris and snot out.
What is troubling is that his/her eyes are bulging more, snotty stuff is still inside that gap and the bone were the nose is  protruding more.
This morning, when I was cleaning around the bone bit I noticed that the bone was loose.
It will soon break off even more.
What does that mean? How far does this infection go?
I discussed the case with my vet. She thought about doing surgery to debride the offending bone but the question is how far and how deep is the bone affected? Is the entire skull involved? Surgery is really risky on so many different accounts. Other meds were suggested by folks on my pigeon chat group. Some of these meds are  potentially chemically hazardous..
I've felt I've exhausted all avenues.
I am starting to think there a fine line between "doing all you can medically" and just plain torture.
sigh......
*I took these photos of Craow Dum this morning.

Gentle giants

One of my regular customer called me to inform me she just recently acquired a "new' dog.
I take care of her lovebird and turtle on a regular basis, and on occasion her elderly border collie.
She is young woman who, like Micheal J Fox,  has physical challenges as a result of early onset Parkingson disease.
 The "new dog" is a service dog who helps her with balance issues.
This dog, "Tommy", is a GIANT black and white Great Dane!
* the photo above is a photo  I found on the internet. The dog looks exactly like the one depicted!
Let me tell you this is one BIG dog!
As with all service dogs you need to ask first if it is OK that you can pet them (or interact with them). They are service dogs and can not be distracted from what they are trained to do.
"Tommy" greeted me at the door when I came over to retrieve "Billy Bob" the lovebird for a week long stay at my" birdy-camp"
.He is a sweet friendly dog despite his gigantic size.His head is the size of a large horse's head.His paws were the size of a large man's hands.I think if you put a saddle on him you could ride him like a pony.
I think, just by his sheer size, he is a good dog to walk with. Even just for the safety factor, no one would mess with you.
The sad thing about big dogs like this is that they do not have a long lifespan. They only live for about eight years compared to small dogs which can live up to 16-18 years.
It will be interesting to see how things work out with this unusual service dog. :-)

ghost pigeon

I came across an interesting article about a guy who found a pigeon skeleton in his chimney with a note attached to his leg.Apparently this poor bird was a WWII carrier pigeon off to deliver a message to a Sergeant W Scott but never made it.I find it amazing on what I have read about how many pigeons were used and how many (human) lives depended on these brave dependable birds.
Despite of all my poor pigeon has been through with his ailments he/she still follows me around and seeks out my company. I know people roll their eyes at me thinking ,"oh for God's sake..it is just a damn pigeon',when I complain how worried I am about Craow Dum's health issues.
Seriously, I've never met a creature so loyal and so grateful.
My husband has been scanning the internet for my Christmas gift. He's not good at 'surprises" and tells me how he looks for pigeon related items for me. In his search, he told me about this Japanese DVD about a ghost pigeon. It is about a woman found a baby pigeon in a gutter after many people walked right by ignoring his cries.the pigeon was her loyal companion in this life and the next.
My husband looks at everything with "logic" and :"practicality" since he is an engineer. He also believes some things can not be explained
He believes like this person in the movie I am also the pigeon saint.
Ah yes, remember I am the patron saint of birds, fish and reptiles.
He would not have stopped and picked up the pigeon in the sewer gutter. He also found it spooky how I found a set of rosary beads UW in Bonaire.
Whook our elderly parakeet wasn't doing too well this week. I thought for sure he was a goner on wednesday. I set up a bird angel by the window. I cleaned his cage nicely, gave him special rice and broccoli and covered him for some peace. Oddly he seemed to have perked up. He is still not 100% well but he is still eating and squawking at us.
And I don't care if anyone thinks I'm nutty.....

A hunting we will go

Thanksgiving day was quiet and mostly uneventful.
My brother and his family spent the day at his in-laws this year.
It would just be my husband and I with my parents this year.
My mother wasn't sure if my father would even be able to get out of bed  since he is falling each day.
She has been worn out and depressed caring for him .
He can not longer walk and needs a wheelchair. She is mostly worn down having to deal with his erratic, uncooperative and predictably unpredictable belligerent behavior.It is really rough to see my dad slide down this down-ward spiral and my mother bearing the brunt of living with him.
She refuses to place him in a nursing home-which I do not blame her.
That is the last thing we want to do. We want him in the comfort of his own home.However, with that being said, I worry about my mother and her health.He dismisses home health care which makes life extremely hard for my mother.
My mother,being herself, insisted on having Thanksgiving dinner at her house. She said she finds cooking "therapeutic" plus it was questionable whether or not be could get my father up out of bed. With the Grace of God, we did get my father up and at the dinner table. I talked to him about a couple of his favorite subjects : football and black friday shopping.
Even though I know shit about football I know at least some of the key players and names of some of the teams enough to carry on a simple conversation.
My expertise is, however,  shopping black friday.
There is something primal about going for out for the hunt.
It's not much different from getting on a horse armed with a bow and arrow.
(Now its getting in a car armed with coupons)
And I did at one time go bow hunting.
(Don't get alarmed we ran through the woods shooting bales of hay)
I would try to jog my father's memory with black friday "hunting" stories.
"Hey Dad remember the bread maker I bought you about 20 years ago? I arrived at Ames at 5:55 am, before work, to get you that sunbeam bread-maker. Do you remember that?"
"Remember that cat blanket Ma bought me when I was sixteen? I still have it and use it!"
He would smile and shake his head.
"Yeah, last year, I was selfish and just bought myself stuff. See my JLo bag? I used a coupon PLUS it was on sale!"
He would laugh.
"Let's see the sale papers to see what is worth going out for".
I would scan the papers and show him stuff.
"Aw..this is a rip-off! They will only have two of these in stock" "This is cheap and it is a crap brand.." "Oooh this is a good deal. I'll go check it out"
Right after dinner he didn't look good and wanted to go back to bed right away.
It's just one day at a time.

frankenpigeon part 6

Can you stand (at least) one more frankenpigeon story?
My vet emailed me after I sent her the graphic photos of Craow Dum's head and nodule.
 I had an appointment with her this morning.
Since the hole is still open on top of Craow Dum's head the vet would have access to getting accurate mucus/ debris samples as well as tissue samples from the plaque still on the inside walls of the sinus.
 I was really hoping we would see trichomonas on the samples since there was white patches all over in the sinus. This is commonly known as "canker" -which is a fairly common disease in pigeons. This way, we could set our sights on bombarding the "bugs" with pathogen specific meds rather than doing this crap shoot experimental mix of anti-fungal/bacterial/protozoa in hopes of hitting it right.
Unfortunately, no trich squiggles were present on the slides.
The vet was concerned of what she found, and prepped samples to be sent off to the lab for evaluation.
She thought it could be crytococcus-which is NOT a good thing.
In the meantime, she said to continue on with the rest of the meds (a two weeks supply) until we get the test results and to use a chlorahexadine flush to clean out the hole/sinus area.
Ah...this poor bird.
He/she is eating and carrying on normally.
Craow Dum is as happy as a clam to just cuddle up to me.(Seriously, not many people would want to do that!)
I just can't give up hope.
Not yet.

frankenpigeon part 5

I thought everything would be solved at this point with Craow Dum after that nodule came off .
 I've been cleaning the area where the nodule came off as well continuing on with the medicine. However, I noticed his/her eyes is still bulging and he/she still has a snotty nose.The feathers fluffed up now hide the hole. I pulled the feathers away and noticed fluid was coming out. I cleaned it up and looked inside the hole with a flashlight to see more debris, goop and ingrown feathers.I felt like I was playing the game "operation" carefully removing debris trying not to touch the rim.(Remember that game where you take tweezers to remove "the funny bone" careful not to ring the buzzer?) I was concerned about doing anything invasive since  my implements aren't exactly 'sterile".
As I held the flashlight in mouth inspecting the gap on his/her head for more debris as I painstakenly removed bits. I saw inside where the wall near the bulging eye was a white plaque similar to a canker sore humans get in their mouth. I thought I could scrape it off but instead it bled. I dabbed it with a Q-tip to stop the bleeding.I felt sick thinking I could cause more harm than good.
I've been corresponding with folks all over the world on the pigeon chat line I link onto. Craow Dum has a fan club .I've even had a few people offering to help with his medical bills! (I thanked them all and respectfully declined their generous offers) It's been really amazing with all the imput I've been getting.
I sent an email to my vet to keep her updated on the ongoing saga for her own interests since this is a rather a'special case".
As I type all of this, that silly little pigeon followed me upstairs and is sitting next to me completely unfazed by his/her hole in the head and everything else.

Frankenpigeon part 4

*WARNING! This is really gross!

It's been now 34 days since I started Craow Dum on this experimental four punch regiment of twice daily medication that I had to pick up at Beverly's compounding clinic.
As you can see, a nodule has grown to the point that the skin was pulling away.(first photo)
This morning, the nodule was loose. I applied warm compresses to the area and the marble sized nodule lifted off.
I almost puked.

I debrided most of the gunk off of which remained, a gaping hole.
 Oddly, Craow Dum seemed unfazed with the whole ordeal. I, however, was gagging. (second photo)
As you can see the nodule.(third photo) GAG!
 I have about 3 weeks remaining on the prescription so I will just carry on. I just contacted my vet so she can see what has transpired.I am hoping this will do the trick and he/she can at least be comfortable now that this "cyst' is now gone.
The question remains: what the hell is it?

In an instant..your life could change forever..

When I read about all these natural (and unnatural disasters) that happen in an instant. They can change a person's life in a heart-beat. Earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods, hurricanes, pyschopaths, drunk drivers, collapsing bridges, and diseases, etc.. etc....All by chance.
How do you prevent things from happening ? How do you prepare yourself?
People in New York and New Jersey are still without electricity. And it's cold.
Last night, my husband and I went out to dinner down the street to celebrate our 12 year wedding anniversary  When we left the restaurant, it was dark.
As we were driving down the street, I noticed a slight reflection bouncing off the darken street that looked like a shadow of a person crossing the street. I realized my husband was not slowing down and yet, he was traveling under the speed limit. Apparently he did NOT see the slow moving figure wearing dark clothing languidly crossing the street  like a lumbering raccoon while looking down at his cell phone texting or whatever, completely oblivious to traffic.
I screamed, "WATCH IT! WATCH IT!"
 I gasped, waiting for the thud of that idiot off the hood of the car.
At the last split second, my husband swerved missing that guy by less than an inch  almost colliding into oncoming traffic on the other side.As I yanked my head to the side to see where that guy was .I noticed that he kept on walking  still looking down on his cell phone completely oblivious of what was going on around him.
What the hell?!?!?
OMG what a freakin' shithead.
In a fraction of a second, that guy could have been killed.
Lives would have been changed forever.
We were both shaking after that incident.
I am still sick over what could have happened.

post election 2012 nausea

When I was in Bonaire, I saw these images of what hurricane Sandy did to the New Jersey/New York coast. I had good reason to be scared shitless as it barreled up north.
It's been 12 days since the hurricane hit and many people in this area are still without power as well as battling gas/fuel shortages. And those were the "lucky" ones.
As you can see from the above photos many homes were devastated.
And yet, during this time, the presidential election danced on by.
Quite frankly I was disgusted with both the candidates. If they wanted to prove "leadership" they should have both united and got to work helping these folks rather than to verbally spit venom at each other. If they couldn't stop and put away their differences on a united front  to get power restored, gas trucks in to deliver fuel and to give help to  these folks then I fear that neither one of them would be able to deal with the nasty dictators from foreign countries.
At least former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton pulled it together to help the Katrina victims!
Unfortunately, we are stuck with the same boob "Mr Hollywood"and his scary clown, Joe Biden.
In addition, I found the election results in Massachusetts one big stinking joke (a major disappointment)
I was especially shocked and sick, that Elizabeth Warren beat Scott Brown for senate seat. I can not believe people are that stupid.
Senator Brown was a shining star. I call myself a "Scott Brown republican" because I view and analyze both sides of an issue rather what the party tells you how to vote.
Seriously, what the hell were people thinking?
I  got the same sick feeling when Deval Patrick won the governor's seat and then got  re-elected.
Two freaking clown puppets.
OK I'm done ranting and raving.
God helps us.

Frankenpigeon part 3

It's been three weeks now on the massive four punch doses of medicine for Craow Dum. I have to drive all the way to Beverly to pick up his meds and it is very expensive.
My pet sitter was a life saver when I was away in Bonaire. I showed her how to administer the meds and she  did it! What a releif that was to have her do this!
Craow Dum still does not seem affected one way or another by the meds. I am, however, not sure if it is having any affect.I still do not know. I keep in touch with my 'pigeon chat' folks and with a woman from Romania who has had a similar issue with her pigeon.
Craow Dum's "cyst" is, in fact, getting larger by the day. It is bursting through the top of his head (as you can see from the above photo) Fluid is leaking around it. I'm not sure if that is plasma or mucus emerging.
 It is all pretty gross.
What I am hoping will happen is that the "cyst' just burst and falls off like a scab. That is what I am waiting for. As usual, I keep him/her clean and well fed.
I have enough meds prescribed to me for another three weeks.
What ever it is it is a tenacious infection mixed with a low immunity to fight infection due to the circovirus.
I am still hoping and praying for a miracle. :-)

bird watching in Bonaire

* Here is the view from the balcony at Caribbean court condos were we stayed. Off the balcony, I took this zoom photo of an oriole perched on a tree.

We managed 15 dives this year at our eleventh visit to Bonaire. Other than diving we bird watch.
We got up at the "crack" in search of amazon parrots and brown throated parakeets (Prikichi) over by the Black Durgon inn. Last year, we spotted heaps of them. Sadly, this year I could hear the sound of the brown throated parakeets but no Amazons. Not even a single one-not even up on the hills.
 I spotted only a few flamingoes this year as well.
I did see plenty of cattle egrets, frigate-birds, ruddy turn stones, eared doves, ground doves, a few white-faced doves,  a grey king bird, a king fisher, a bare-eye pigeon, barn swallow, tropical mockingbirds bananaquit, saffron finch, rufous- collared sparrows and at least three osprey. I also noted a trio of feral rock doves (pigeons) mulling around down-town which I had never noticed before.
I was disappointed that I didn't see (or even hear) parrots this year. I found this a bit odd.

Yup, back to Bonaire

Traveling sucks, big time.
Traveling by plane is kind of like to the GYN doctor.
 It's dreadful, painful and degrading, and yet I do it.
Every single time I get off the dirty plane clutching my overflowing air-sickness bag I mutter to myself, "I'm NEVER putting myself through this again!".
So why do I do it, you ask?
Because once I splash down into the waters of Bonaire I am in another world.
Nobody is bugging me now.
It's so easy to dive in Bonaire and very inexpensive.
I do the unlimited shore dive package. It cost me a mere $127.50 to dive six days to dive as much as I want and when I want.
It's great.
 No dewlapping dive masters herding me around nor annoying scubas you have to wait for or to watch out for.
Over the years, I dived as all the shore dive access areas. Some are a pain-in-the-ass as far as entry. I found just a few sites at this stage in the game that I am happy to dive over and over again.And every time, I see the same familiar cast of characters as well as new stuff to keep things interesting.
One of my favorite sites is "windsock". It has an easy entrance. Not many people dive this spot for some reason. I think it is because it has an easy entrance that people dismiss it. (I think people think the harder the entry the better the dive site.Go have your rocky "Andrea II" climb) As usual , by the loading dock, I was greeted by a trio of squid. This year, I also found lionfish.
Another favorite spot is "front porch" were the tug-boat lays in about 100 feet deep.I'm sure people don't like diving here because there is a lot of debris from the old sunset hotel underwater. However, this "debris" is home to lots of critters.
I found two large octopus free swimming around. There a tons of those funny looking sea cucumbers. I find lots of morays. Even "Charlie" the tarpon made his appearance along with some "friends".Under the tug-boat at 95 feet I found at least five large lionfish. Two of them were HUGE! They were at least two feet long. I also saw two giant spiny lobsters there as well.
What I found interesting, is that despite the increase in the number of lionfish  the rest of the fish population seemed healthy and unaffected by their presence
.I found this interesting because they were " the source to blame" in the serious decline of fish life in the Bahamas. Two years ago, when I went to the Bahamas the only fish I saw there were lionfish. In 1992, the Bahamian waters were teeming with fish along with giant groupers. This gives me cause to  believe the problem is overfishing, not the lionfish. Did I see lionfish eating small fish?Yes. That is because that was the only fish left over. I did not see a single grouper, never mind those big beautiful giant groupers I did years ago.
This year in Bonaire "the salt pier" was open to dive again. For a few years it was closed due to "security reasons'. This site has an easy access entry. It's a nice shallow dive that you can follow the pilings so you don't get lost. I found a large group of tarpon cruising the area, plus lots of barracudas,  squids and an octopus. Someone claimed they found a seahorse here as well but I couldn't find it.
Yeah, diving here is really great. We did three (close to an hour long) dives a day. We were in bed by 7:30pm dead to the world.
Will I endure another plane ride to go back down there?
Right now, I say, "no" but I've said that the last eight times I've been there. :-)

the saints go marching by....

* this photo makes me sad. This is photo of Twillinger when she was just a baby.

I had booked a diving trip to Bonaire.
I was in a major panic about traveling there for a number of reasons:
1) The pigeon was in the middle of her medicine regiment. I wasn't sure if the pet sitter or anyone else could administer the meds while I was away.I didn't want to stop the process.
2) I hate leaving my birds. Period!
Twillinger wasn't looking too good despite her 10 day stint of meds. She had a "mass" in her lower abdomen. An x-ray showed a broken egg in her ovary area.
3) A nasty hurricane named "Frankenstorm" was expected to rip through the New England coast-line around Halloween.God knows what kind of damage it could bring.
I had seriously considered just chucking the trip-even that morning_but friends and family urged me to go..
My pet sitter came over to see what needed to be done for the pigeon and administered the meds like a pro.I told her I would stay in contact with her,( if I decided to still go on the trip), to check the pigeon and weather situation.
We ended up going.
However, as I soon as I arrived, I panicked and wanted to go back home.
I checked my emails to check on the situation back home and to see if I could get a flight back home ASAP.
My pet sitter informed me that she found Twillinger dead at the bottom of the cage.
I freaked out.
Apparently the "mass" had grown.
I knew she was a bit "off" but I was still disgusted with myself that I had opted to go on vacation instead of just staying home
There was nothing I could do but to "try" to relax and just make the best of my trip.
I watched the weather closely and contacted friends and family of the situation.
I was horrified to see what was happening to New York and the New Jersey shoreline. I had imagined the worst back home.
No roof, high floods, evacuations, no power, the pet sitter unable to get to my birds, criminal looting and possible snow.
I was making myself crazy.
I was thinking of all these things while diving choking back tears.
As I was diving I spotted something stuck between two rocks.
It was a purple rosary!
I kid you not!
A pair of purple rosary beads just laying there on the coral.
I picked them up and placed them around my neck.
They gave me an instant calm.
Everything turned out to be A-OK.
The pigeon was fine. No damage to the house just a power outage for just a few hours. Everything was under control.
I was able to at least enjoy the remainder of my trip.
The saints were watching me.