Up and over

Atilla is still coping with her lump.  It has got bigger again but is still a bit floppy rather than solid like it had been pre-Easter Sunday.  She occasionally gets a poop caught on it, but it never stays there long – either I manage to discreetly flick it off whilst it is fresh, or Atilla attacks it during a botty preen.

She gets about, as always, trailing the lump behind her.  She does not seem to mind & just hauls it around.  When she steps up on my finger from a perch or swing, I have to remember the up & over motion otherwise the lump will get caught.

Here she is on the swing – she got there herself.  She was not very relaxed as she saw me with the camera…

She is still making her own way down under the Manor to check out the mirror there…

The other day I caught her exploring the rest of the area under the Manor – she did a circuit of the tray, returning to the mirror & made her way up to the Manor as per usual.

Atilla doing a circuit of the tray under the Manor

Atilla is very independent & I admire her greatly.

How to keep a budgie or budgies quiet?

Give them LOADS of wild grass!

Atilla is often the exception – as you can tell in this video – as she is making quite a bit of noise bashing the camera…

But even Atilla is quiet here, busy eating along with Cagney & Bezukhov…

The Ladder of Grass

Atilla & the toyboys have been tucking into their wild grass treat.  I have been pegging it to a swinging perch & propping it up on the landing platform so it was very much like a ladder of grass.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Here they are munching on the grass:

Atilla was checking out the camera:

Atilla finally left the camera to eat some grass too:

Moulting & filming

To add to all of Atilla’s health troubles, she is now moulting.  She is shedding feathers left, right & centre.  She also has loads of pin feathers, particularly on her belly, above her legs & under her wings.  Her face also looks a little “ragged”.  She normally looks so well groomed, so I know she must be feeling bad.  In fact, the last few days she has moved away from her purple lantern mirror to sit on the (mirror-less) perch the other side of the Manor.  I wonder if that is because she does not want to catch sight of her reflection…

 

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

I took this video to show her chewing the toy but predictably she stopped chewing the toy, but did have a stretch, revealing all her pin feathers.  Then she made her way out to investigate the camera. 

Whilst investigating the camera, she managed to take this little film of Cagney….

Talk to the fingernail

Bezukhov talks to the fingernail then flies to the camera much like his girlfriend Raspy used to….

Carry on cucumber

Here is a video of Bezukhov eating the middle of the cucumber.  Cagney was eating it too but had to join Atilla at the camera.  Bezukhov carries on eating the cucumber….
In this video, Bezukhov carries on eating the cucumber…. that is, until Cagney takes over….

Atilla’s photo shoot

Hallelujah!  Atilla managed to keep her nose out of the camera lens for a few minutes so I could get some decent close up shots of her.  She had just had a misting & had not even started preening yet.  She always looks so well groomed, apart from 1) when soaked & 2) when Cagney has been climbing all over her.