Meet Ghostfaced Kitteh and Norbird.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group gives Kossacks a safe place to check in, a daily diary where we can let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, earthquakes, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It also allows us to find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a Kosmail and ask to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
We do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday: BadKitties
Tuesday: ejoanna
Wednesday: Caedy
Thursday: art ah zen
Friday: FloridaSNMOM
Saturday: Most Awesome Nana
Sunday: loggersbrat
Yesterday morning, my daughter was awakened by a thud. Upon opening her eyes, she saw a cockatiel clutching the screen on her window. I am afraid of birds so we never had any and she has no experience with them. She just let him sit there for a few minutes, hoping he would fly away but as she watched him, she realized he was very stressed out. So she went out to him, reached her fingers towards him, with more than a little fear of being bitten, and he came off the screen, onto her hand.
More of the tale below the orange bird toy.
He was not quite stable on her hand and started to flap his wings in distress. She gently covered his wings with her other hand and quieted him, then she brought him in the house.
She had no idea what to do. She called her neighbor who had birds and he offered advice and a cage shaped candle holder to keep him in for the moment. she put chopsticks through it for perches, put little bowls of seed and water in it and popped him him. it was a little small but worked for the short term. I was able to find a used cage at the local bird shop for only $15, complete with food bowls, a toy and a perch. It is seen in the picture above. We bought cockatiel bird seed, and a cuttle bone for his cage. After she outfitted it with paper and food, she opened the door for him, now called Norbird, and he hopped right in to the perch. He started immediately to eat and drink, fluffed up his feathers and settled down. When I left, she had put a towel over his cage to keep him warm, let him sleep, and let the cats forget about him since they couldn't see him.
This morning, she said he was quiet all night and sat on her shoulder while she brushed her teeth this morning, bobbing his head up and down in beat the the radio. He seems to be very sweet, curling his head down so she can rub his head and face with one finger. He will use his beak on the tip of your finger if you touch some place he doesn't want petted, but he does not bite, he just puts his beak on your finger to let you know. He seems to be in good shape, missing a few feathers and preening quite a bit but no big holes like he is pulling feathers out in distress. He even let me hold him and climbed onto my shoulder to cuddle my neck and peck at my necklace. He is quite endearing. He cheeps when she leaves the room and watches for her to come back.
She has put up flyers around the neighborhood and will give him to owners who can describe his physical oddities, which were obvious even to the untrained person and told us for sure he was not a wild bird. His deformities would have left him too vulnerable to be out there. She has 2 cats and is worried that they pose too great a threat to him but i suspect that if no one comes forward to claim him, that he will have found a new home with her.
Mr. Zen told me he is going to start calling her Ellie May because she collects critters. She is good hearted and kind. Critters know it too.
Not my photo but found on a free photo site.