Thursday Sept 9 2010

It has been a horrid week for our bellbirds. Grumpy was missing last Thursday. He seemed fine when I saw him at the Picnic feeder about 4pm on the Wednesday and when I left the area about 4.30 he was singing away.There was no sign of him again on the Friday until late in the afternoon when he was found in a Mahoe tree near to the seat in Petes Patch. Although he looked O K his behaviour had changed and he sat silently in the tree with his beak often tucked behind his neck.On the Saturday morning Grumpy was sighted at the Bella Vista feeder (we had very strong south west winds Friday night which knocked down trees in Petes Patch and along Dotties Lane) and Grumpy would have known that the Bella Vista area provided more shelter. I was still concerned about Grumpy's lethargic appearance so called Mike for advice and I also rang the vet who warned that if the bird is in a stressed state he could die if I attempted to catch him. Mike was on the island on Saturday and he did see Grumpy briefly at the Bella Vista feeder and he agreed we should add a weak complan solution to Grumpy's sugar water.
At the Bella Vista feeder the bellbirds share the bird table with sparrows and silver eye and these other birds sit (and shit) on the bellbirds feeder. I disinfected the bird table and feeder yesterday in case Grumpy has picked up a disease and have borrowed a bird table from the park and installed it near to the existing bird table at Bella Vista to try and keep the birds separate.
In the meantime Grumpy's girlfriend who has resided at the Bella Vista feeder since her beating in the park has disappeared. She was there last Thursday calling when Grumpy was missing and she was sighted again on the Friday afternoon while Grumpy was in a poor condition near to the Fence feeder in the park. We have not seen the female bird since.
It has been a very distressing time and frustrating that we do not know what has happened . I cannot explain why Grumpy in appearance looks fine and yet his whole nature has changed virtually overnight - we have not heard a sound from him since last Wednesday.
The future looks a bit bleak for our birds with just two juvenille male birds sometimes seen at our feeders and a very unhappy Grumpy at the Bella Vista feeder. It is a sad situation nevertheless we try and remain hopeful that a female bird will reappear.