Chomp - An Update

Just look at this photo below - he's so gorgious and he knows it. He's doing so well. If he thinks nobody's watching, he sits on top of the brick Pierre put in his cage and checks out the garden and Jioma's activities in the backyard. Sometimes he jumps down from the brick and back up again. Maybe he's bored - just sitting there all day so now he's exercising to keep busy. He's fussy about what he eats. He loves grasshoppers but doesn't like crickets and worms and he doesn't eat heads - even grasshopper heads - he just chucks them out of the food bowl. Thanks very much to all the gardeners and little Leon who catch bugs every day and to Tanya for having the stomach to chop them all up - I could never do that! I'm quite happy feeding him and cleaning the cage - poop and all. Oh - and I talk to him all the time. The gardeners must think I'm crazy, talking to a bird.

Chomp's Strapping Procedure

Chomp had his wing strapped last night and another "check-up and adjustment procedure" this morning. He's eating and drinking water so he's doing just fine under the circumstances. Below are some photos - Darren W recons he should rather stick to metallurgy after seeing these. I recon Andrew or Steve should do a course on wild life medical care - seeing that they already have the medical background.

Chomp's New Home

Pierre and Altus worked hard last night to build a new home for Chomp. Thanks guys for doing such a good job on converting this old crate to a cage any bird would be proud of. I'm sure Chomp was glad to have such a nice warm bed during last night's thunderstorm.

Chomp's Medical Check-Up

Chomp had a thorough check-up last night. Darren B (here seen cradling Chomp in his lap) and Darren W checked him out properly. Luckily they didn't find any external wounds, bleading, etc but it was very clear that Chomp has a bad case of lice and he didn't mind sharing them with Darren and Darren. So, if you see Darren and Darren going around scratching, you know why.

Chomp

Chomp is his name. Don't ask me why - it was the first word that came into my head when I decided he has to be named. "He" might actually be a "she" - I don't know much about birds. Chomp is a Black Kite who had a nasty accident this morning. He flew into a moving truck on the mine site and broke his right wing. He is now in my care - so everyone, please pray that Chomp recovers well so he can once again be a happy bird. If any of you have tips on how to care for Chomp, I will greatly appreciate any help I can get. As you can see below, Chomp's presence gave me a good excuse to set up my computer outside on the verandah so I can keep an eye on him while I do emails, etc. At the moment Chomp is sitting inside the box in the background but Pierre will be building him a proper cage tonight so he can spend his recovery days in comfort.