Am I in the finch-raising business?

...and you thought that RABBITS were prolific!!!

I got rid of my 2 parakeets; the noise they constantly made, along with the female parakeet's penchant for destroying everything I set in the bird cage, left me no choice. So I went back to the pet store and exchanged the 'keets and for 4 "zebra" finch, and you know, they're interesting little guys. They do have occasional squabbles with each other, but for the most part, they just go about their business in methodical fashion. And since they're smaller, they actually fly in the cage sometimes. Strange-looking little birds, though. Their beaks are abnormally sized in comparison to their small bodies. But, they don't make near the noise the 2 parakeets made. However, was I surprised when I got up the other day and went out to the bird cage to replenish their food. There was an EGG in the little plastic tray where the bird gravel goes. The lady at the pet store said they'd lay eggs, and that I could just throw them away. Nature is a cruel thing, I guess. So I threw away the egg and proceeded to put more gravel in the tray and put more food elsewhere in the cage.

Today, when I went out to check on the birds, there was ANOTHER egg in the gravel tray. And, ANOTHER egg in the plastic tray I put bird seed in. Hmmm...let's see...four parakeets, two pair, and A WHOLE LOTTA WHOOPEE GOING ON, evidently. Finch Whoopee. Not exactly the most exciting spectacle to watch unless you're some sort of avairian peeping Tom. So I stuck my hand inside the cage to replace their food, and when I did, as always, there were four finch flying all over the place, scared out of their minds...well, I 'spose if yer a two-inch-finch, you look something like Paul Bunyan to the poor little birds. And, as I drew my hand near the bird-gravel cup, one of the little finch perched right next to my hand, and looked up at me as if to say, "You're not going to take my egg AGAIN, are you?" (I don't think finch are that smart, but who knows?) And I left the egg in the gravel tray, and left the other egg in the seed cup. And I'm kinda thinkin' two-inch finch must be the "rabbits" of the bird world. They work fast! An egg yesterday, another egg today...maybe they're trying to "egg me on". (Sorry, couldn't resist that)

Well, finch aren't tropical birds; I've seen 'em up in Idaho and here in Oregon. So, I decided to experiment: I went outside, got some grass clippings, chopped them up relatively small, and scattered them on the bottom of the cage. And, the little birds jumped off their perches, onto the floor, began picking up grass, hopping up to their "nests" and began making grass cushions to hatch eggs in. Interesting. Primal behavior. I was glad to be able to provide an environment where they could "do their thing"; I guess all birds care about is eating, sleeping and breeding; this is why birds don't have ulcers. Or panic attacks. Or anxiety disorders. Anyway, nowadays, I come upon the sight of pairs of little two-inch-finch, sitting inside a seed tray, egg underneath, on a bed of grass. And that is touching somehow. Little guys. Awwwwwww. So I'm going to see what happens here. Are there baby finch in the forecast? Who knows? One pair of finch spends a lot of time egg-sitting; the other pair sits on their egg only once in a while. Maybe that other pair is a "new-age" finch parenting duo. Minimal involvement with child, and if the baby finch acts up, they'll force him to take a "time out". Me, I got whacked on the fanny if I misbehaved.

Little defenseless teeny-tiny two-inch finch...awwwwww...ugly in an endearing way...

I do know one thing...finch eggs are tiny (not quite an inch long); as such, it would take a whole lotta finch eggs for an OMELET! Not that I could eat such a thing...with each bite, I would probably end up remembering the poor defenseless little two-inch-finch housed inside their seed tray, waiting for the eggs to hatch. Nope; couldn't do it.

____________________

RAVINGS OF AN INSOMNIAC...THE MSNBC WATCH CONTINUES...I have been watching MSNBC early mornings, to see what they're gonna do with the three-hour block of time that Don Imus used to fill. And those are pretty big shoes to fill; MSNBC is trying their darndest to see what works best. So far, there have been a couple of new hosts each week, and most of them, to me, are washouts. Especially the first 'guest host', a bald shiny-headed guy who tried to sound snappy and all newsworthy, and a black guy who spent gobs and gobs of time trying to tell everyone what he was all about; unfunny and pretentious. Truly a brother with no "soul". (oops, racist comment there; I can see a blog ban coming now!) But I have been pleasantly surprised the last coupla days...MSNBC personality Joe Scarborough, who has his own show, "Scarborough Country" has been doing the former-Imus guest-hosting thing, and he's pretty good.

He's informal, he's not afraid to laugh or say something slightly crazy, and he's even said the word "nappy" (although not in conjunction with "ho", which would be career suicide). And, Joe effectively interviews all of the guests who used to appear in the Imus time slot, so there's a sense of continuity here. Last night, Joe and the several people gathered around him on the program even talked about Don Imus for a while, in sort of a "who can say 'this', who can say 'that' " type of debate. I always valued the Imus show, because political people, columnists, gadflies, and other such types as retired generals, sports figures and whoever else would appear on the show, giving me a "capsule" idea of what was going on. I thought Scarborough would be a listless yuppie blowhard on the MSNBC early-morning slot, but I am surprised to report that he's totally at ease, and in command, and is as "real" as "real" gets these days.

____________________

So, you ask, how did I manage to start out with two-inch-finch and end up commenting about a politically-oriented early-morning TV show? Could it be that politics truly is "for the birds?" Chirp, chirrrrrp...