Three Little Birds Beside Our Doorstep

27 December 2017

(Don't you worry 'bout a t'ing, Every little t'ings gonna be all right)

We had a quiet Christmas, since many restaurants and shops were closed for the long weekend, including 26 December for Boxing Day.

It's okay, we've been travelling a bit less energetically than usual as my knee heals from the surgery last June.  Six months, a lot of knee rehab and walking, and I'm on track for a total of 60 miles walked this month.  But the new knee still isn't as strong as the normal knee, and I tend to swim in circles since the two aren't quite in sync.  So we're okay with the occasional quiet weekend.

We have new neighbors, though.  Richard noticed a bird nest in the small palm right outside our patio, now that we're at our new place.  We watched, and there are two parents, the red-whiskered bulbuls, both looking exactly the same.  With three little tiny baby bulbuls in the tiny little nest of woven twigs, grasses, and feathers.  Mama and Papa bulbul both come and feed the babies throughout the day, and then one of them sits atop the nest to keep the babies warm all night.  

I know, one of the photos makes it look as if there are more than three hungry babies to feed.  I think they move around so quickly, hoping to be fed first, my camera just picked up multiple versions of the same three birdies!

They've grown in the several days we've been here.  We have another nine or ten days, so I'm hoping they grow really quickly so that we can see them when they're old enough to try sitting on the edge of the nest.  It really is a tiny little nest, so it's a good thing there are only three babies.

Richard wanted to call them Larry, Mo, and Curly.  I was pushing for something French, maybe Jean, Jacques, and Pierre.  We may have to settle for gender-neutral names like Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod.

But we have a bowl where we leave out bits of bread during the day, and the various neighborhood birds come by to have a snack.  Mama and Papa Bulbul both enjoy the snacks, and sit on the railing looking us over.  The are quite the friendly and polite birds.

We also had an incredible sunset the other day, deep pink streaks turning the bay a gorgeous rosy hue.  

This really is a beautiful island, and we've been enjoying our time here.