Flamingo feet

 Flamingos have big feet.

And how convenient that their backs make such nice pillows.

Indian River boat ride

The Indian River is almost the ocean.  It's big and salty and wet.  But really it's a lagoon area on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Ocean, river, lagoon--whichever you'd like to call it--it's a pretty place to take a boat ride.

Sanctuary for the one winged

The Phoenix zoo has a one winged pelican.
He hangs out with the other pelicans, and since the rest of them have clipped wings and none of them truly fly, maybe he doesn't notice that he's different.

Maybe all the birds are a little 'off' in one way or another--just that few of their handicaps are as outwardly apparent as having only one wing.

In the natural world, a one winged pelican doesn't get much of a chance.  His hopes for survival would be pretty low.  I suppose it's right that the kindhearted and merciful zoo people offer the helpless this hope and sanctuary.

But I wonder:  do birds appreciate things like kindheartedness, mercy and hope?

I know that as a human with all my outward appendages in place, I don't often-enough think to appreciate these things.  Most days I'm probably a whole lot more like a one winged pelican, much more in need of mercy and kindness, than I recognize. And to remember that my future has any hope at all because of the mercy and kindness I've already received?--well that's a lot to remember.

In the natural world, I don't deserve all the mercy and hope that surrounds me.

Sanctuary.
Sometimes we're all in need of a little bit of sanctuary, where our broken wings don't matter.  Where we can rest in someone else's mercy and let hope grow once more within us.

Out of place

I was out looking for buildings, architecture and history, right? But I couldn't help but notice a few of the other unusual sights.

For instance: turkeys. Why were there turkeys at the Jama Masjid? How did they get there?


Horses drinking out of bathtubs, that is not something you see every day. I really wanted a better picture of this street lined with thirsty horses and their bathtubs--but I was in a moving vehicle.

Crows are not unusual, nor are they out of place around here.
But these particular crows caught my attention because they were lined up watching the world go by.
Perched on a fence, they have a prime view as all the unusual and usual chaos passes before them.
I'm just a little bit envious.

Birds in airports

There are birds in the airport.
And they are not afraid.
You can hear them all over in the rafters above.

They like to come down to the Cafe Coffee Day, though, and eat the crumbs. There was one who was even bold enough to land right on my table.
No fear whatsoever.

...I suppose I mention it because I have this strange idea that birds are supposed to live in trees...

The birds

There were hundreds of birds, mostly kites, flying around the stadium. Kites like to eat fairly large prey (for birds), so what was the cause of the invasion we wondered--surely they weren't after the athletes.
At dusk it became apparent that the air was also filled with large dragonflies, large grasshoppers, and extra, extra large cicadas.
Why were they all congregating at the stadium? Did they come for Commonwealth Games, too?
At least it wasn't mosquitoes.

Ahh, the beach

I love the beach.
I love taking pictures at the beach.
I forgot to take my book with me today, so instead I watched crabs run away from me and watched trash wash up along the shore.
Yucky to the trash.

Here are a few other things I saw...

The bird who liked the trash

A woman swimming in full burqa

Well preserved dead fish

A footprint

Bird Pro Solution

I have a pigeon problem.
Apparently since this apartment was unlived in for six years, or so, the birds, chipmunks and other creatures felt welcome to move in. They've been trying to keep their home for the last few months, despite my discouragement and eviction notices.

I especially dislike pigeons. The rats of birds.

When I had an exterminator come to get rid of the cockroaches, ants, silverfish and termites that had been eating away at the apartment for those many years, I noticed in the brochure he gave me that his company also offered the Bird Pro Solution.
"What does this do? You have this service?" I asked.
"You have problem with pigeon?"
No, pigeons. "Yes, I do."
"Show me."
So I showed the exterminator man my "problem" areas: the back balcony where they like the pipes and railing, the top of the window A/C, the front balcony railings and ledges.
"Bird Pro Solution does not kill pigeon, ma'am," said the exterminator man. "It makes him unsatisfied with roosting and he goes to new perch."
"Okay." Sounds good enough to me.
"It does not kill pigeon. It is spikes we put so when pigeon sit, he is not satisfied and he flies away."
"I see."
"You want this service, ma'am?"
"Yes."
I must have seemed too eager to be rid of the pigeons because he told me yet again that the service does not kill the pigeon but takes away his roosting place.
"Yes, I understand. He will still be alive to live somewhere else."
"I will have to give you a call back about the Bird Pro Solution."
"Okay, very good. How long? When will you call?"
"Two or three days, ma'am."
"Two or three days? So Friday?"
"Yes, ma'am."

A week later I called the exterminator man and asked if he remembered about my pigeon problem.
"Your problem is a very difficult one, ma'am," he said. "I need to talk it over with the supervisor. I will give you a call back in two or three days."
"Two or three days?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Okay then. Thank you."

Another week and I called him again.
"Yes, ma'am, I have been very busy. Another two or three days and I will call."

Another week--or maybe two, I loose track there were so many calls.
"Two or three days, ma'am."

One week when I called, Mr. Exterminator man apologized because he was out of station and wouldn't be able to call back until the next week.

But then, hey, he did. He called. It only took five weeks.
"You are still interested in the Bird Pro Solution, ma'am?"
Haven't I called about it half a dozen times? "Yes."
"I will talk with my supervisor and call you in two or three days."
Right. That again. "Okay, very good."

The next day he called back. "You are present in your home on Monday?"
"On Monday? Yes. Which time?"
"3:30."
"3:30? Yes, I will be here at 3:30."
"On Monday 3:30 to 4 o'clock, we will come for appointment."

At 4:30 on Monday, the exterminator man brought over the Bird Pro man. We reviewed the problem areas. Yes, my pigeon problem was a difficult one. Difficult because four storeys above the street makes for dangerous working conditions and the grills over the windows make installation of spikes more complicated.
They needed to talk it over some more with the supervisor.

The next afternoon they called: "You are present in your home?"
"Yes, I am here."
"In ten, fifteen minutes we can come with supervisor to review your problem?"
"Yes."
"Ten, fifteen minutes."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Three men surveyed the problem areas and decided on solutions. First the Bird Pro man explained them all to me in Hindi, then the supervisor explained in English.
Exterminator man then said they'd email me a quote for their service in my situation in two to three days.
"Today is Tuesday, so that means Friday?"
"Yes, it will be sent by email."
"Okay. Thank you."

I thought about calling on Thursday because I had a pigeon incident.
I was walking around the living room with my mosquito-zapper racket killing flies when a pigeon actually flew in and ran into the refrigerator. It broke its leg and injured its wing. It lay there in a disgusting-looking heap of mangled bird.
I had that racket in my hand.
But no, I didn't zap the bird. I turned the racket off and used it to shoo the pigeon back out the door. Then I watched it fly into the neighbor's house across the street. Ayah.

I didn't call, but I waited and, sure enough, I had an email Friday morning from the Bird Pro man with my quote and contract details. It said I could call him with questions, so I did.
I wanted to know how soon this service could be put in action.
He said he would come over the next day at 11:30am to confirm the contract.

He came around 12:30pm and wanted to once more review all the problem areas. Then he called his supervisor who also wanted to come over and review.
Finally we filled out the contract and made an appointment for the installation next week.

This evening when I locked up, I didn't bother to shoo the pigeons off the back balcony.
Their days are numbered.

The gaping hole

One of the worst things about the apartment when I first moved in was the fiberglass covering the pipe shaft in the kitchen. It was dirty, old, and warped. All the dust and pigeon dirt could float right in. And it's next to the sink where it all gathers on the dishes.
The fiberglass had to go.

Finding someone to fix this was not easy. The carpenter said he would do it, but as noted, the carpenter did not finish all he said he would.
He did remove the old fiberglass pieces, though. Leaving a gaping hole into disgusting-ness right there in the kitchen.
Old pipes going up into the dust.
And down into a mess of pigeon droppings.
Ew gross, I do not want to stare at that all the time.
Or give the pigeons such easy access into my home.

Well the carpenter wasn't going to come back and fix it. So a sheesha wallah, a glass guy, was called in.

The glass guy arrived and said he'd charge $20 to fix the shaft and the two other broken windows in the flat--that included glass, cutting, and labor. Nice.
He was done in forty minutes. After waiting almost three weeks to have this ghastly ugliness removed from my sight.
Hooray it's gone.

Fusebox fight

There are three little birds fighting over who gets to use the fuse box space as a nest. I keep telling them that no one gets to live there, but they don't listen and keep coming right back.
They are not afraid of me, they are not afraid of the shiny stuff I put up to keep them away. And they yell at me.
They've already used the fuse box from the floor above and made a mess there.
I've now tied the fuse box shut and taped over any gaps. They just won't take no for an answer and they've been diligently filling my fuse box with grass and feathers.
I've thought about singing like Snow White or Giselle (from Enchanted) to get them to do some work for me.

Down on the farm

I'm staying with some friends. They have a number of domesticated birds wandering about: chickens, quail, guinea fowl.

The guinea fowl are odd and noisy birds.
I think they sound like an old, rusty, water pump.

Some new little chickens were born this past weekend.
They are nice and fluffy.

And what farm is complete without the faithful, guard dog watching over it all?