Thursday, March 22, 2012

What the?

So first I have to say it is bizarre that I'm not able to access my own blog merely by typing in the URL.  If I type it in correctly it auto corrects it to the German site. (yada yada at blogger.de instead of .com)  Which wouldn't be so bad if it brought up my webpage correctly when it does this.  Alas, no, I get this oddly formatted and I'm not entirely sure it isn't an English translation of a Google translation into German of my page that comes up.  Or I should say the wording of all the posts are all screwy and not at all the way I typed them out or how they show up in the "English" variation  Plus all of my personalized formatting and imagery has been swallowed by cyberspace if I try to do this.  So I have no idea what is up with that or if anyone else has this issue or if I'm just special that way, which I would definitely not put it past myself having that ability. 

Anyway, and on to another equally strange but true thing.  SO about a week ago we went up to "the city" to get some errands done and a medical appointment out of the way.  While we were driving around we happened to pass by a large bird feeder hanging from one of the trees near the clinic.  Okay so whoop-de-do somebody else likes to feed and watch birds like we do, why should you care right?  I understand you on that one, but get this, the thing was swinging wildly in circles which is what caught my attention in the first place.  Not only was it swinging around erratically, but dude there was a bright green and about 1.5' long parrot like bird on the feeder.  Now this isn't inside some sort of aviary or somebody's home, and we by no means live in the tropics, so what on Earth is a parakeet doing out in the wild around here.  As you can guess I was a bit stunned, so much so that I made Hickory drive around the block to go back and take a second look to make sure I wasn't imagining it and to show him and the boys this bizarre sight.  Well I probably should have kept my mouth shut, since Hickory didn't believe me when I first said "hey look there is a parrot on that feeder!" and to make matters worse, by the time we got back around the block the darn thing wasn't on the feeder any more, but the feeder was still spinning from the inertia when it left.

Alright I admit wild parakeets in Germany just doesn't jive, but I swear I saw the thing.  Well, proceed to be harassed and mocked about my imaginary parrot for the remainder of the week.  I just figured I may have seen somebody's lost pet that was doing it's best to survive.  Fast forward a bit to yesterday, we finally got our bird feeders out and functional and so today we have been having fun watching a couple of birds check them out.  Now these are European songbirds, so I am not familiar with their names yet, so I decided it was time to brush up on my German bird knowledge, enter Wikipedia and it's amazing article on just that.  So while clicking my way through all 500+ birds known to be in Germany I came across a category I did not expect to see.  Squished between "Pigeons and Doves" and "Cucoos and Anis" was the heading "Parrots, Macaws, and allies."  Under this heading was a single entry labeled "Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri (I)".  The (I) means it has been an introduced species that can now be found in wild populations throughout the regions given.
So I clicked the link above to be taken to the page about said bird and the first thing I see is WOAH...it's that darn green bird I saw on the feeder last week!  So I went ahead and red the article on the creature.  Guess what?!  They are and DO live in the wild here in Germany all along the Rhine in any Urban area, and then it lists several towns with notably sized populations by name.  Among those cities named?  Wiesbaden.  So AHA!  Not only did I see a parrot like bird, but it was in fact a wild one and would have been normal to see on a feeder in said city.  Not a hallucination, and to be fair it is the descendent of somebody's lost pet, but it would have been many generations ago.  It seems these feral populations got their start here at the beginning of the 20th century so yeah.  Anyway, so next time you see something you swear you shouldn't be seeing but can't explain it any other way, do your research.  After all I am the kid that found the Chinese Pheasant in a tree in New London, Iowa.  Ended up having the DNR come and try to capture it as it appears it had escaped a local zoo/aviary and they were thrilled to have had somebody locate it.  Luckily for them my mom and dad are also avid bird watchers and were more than willing to come see what I had found, regardless of the unlikeliness of it being what it was.  Unlucky for them, it took off and escaped, but hey we did our best.  For now I have more kids awake now then sides to snuggle them with, so I bid thee adieu. ~Hummingbyrd

Monday, March 19, 2012

And then there were Six.

Greetings and Salutations!  Voila!  I have returned, now with a new purpose as well as layout.  Let's see if I do any better at this when the format is not only more open to our day to day lives, but also now able to be written on and in by both myself and the most amazing man to ever live...okay so he's the most amazing to me but still, my husband Hickory is pretty great if I do say so myself.

Anyway, it has been well over a year since I got on here to type, so much has changed in that time frame.  For one we have moved, and not just across the state, or even across the country this time.  Nope, we have moved across the big blue wet thing and are now frolicking in the hills of Europa.  Not only have we completely switched countries and languages, but we have changed up our household as well.  We no longer have any pets, as they both went to live in more appropriate homes prior to our voyage here.  Not only that, but as of the end of the Second Month we have a newbie in the house.  Yep yep yep, we became the proud parents of a girl child!  Can you believe it?  We CAN actually have little girls.  Who knew?  Anyway, Hickory is thrilled to finally have his princess.  The boys love her and have a great time being good big brothers to her.  So Dash, Grins, and Chubbly have now been joined by Princess Lumpy.  With names like theirs our lives are bound to be filled with adventures and experimentation.  For now though I need to get downstairs to rescue Hickory who is trying to put together a storage unit with three too many helpers.  Lumpy is starting to stir in her sleep, so I believe a change of pants is in my near future.  Take care and happy dreaming, ~Hummingbyrd over and out

The Boys: Hickory "Papa", Chubbly, Grins, and Dash
The Girls: Mama Hummingbyrd and Princess Lumpy