It is ALIVE!!!

I have Cockatiels. I didn't really want Cockatiels but a friend had a pair that had been abused and the birds needed a "temporary" home. That was almost three years ago. Brighton and Elliott will never be friendly birds. They have no reason to trust me, but they have shared their passions and now I have FOUR of their progeny--all raised by me. Brighton and Elliott are good at producing lovely little fertile eggs but are lousy parents.

They sit for a week or so and then start kicking those little eggs around. I've learned how to be a passible bird mama. The kids at school have watched the babies grow from tiny featherless monsters into little birds. I really need to stop saving every egg Elliott drops.

BUT--a week ago I was on the back porch--a collect-all for cages, tools and bins. Brighton and Elliott were enjoying some fly time on a warm fall afternoon. Apparently the squirrels, who like scamming nuts at the back door, had invaded their cage and Elliott dropped another egg right where she stood yelling at the squirrels to bugger off. When I picked up the little egg it was still warm--a tiny pinkish package that lay in the palm of my hand waiting for me to decide weather or not I'd chuck it into the garden out back. I took it in and dug out the incubator. I was pretty sure I knew someone who would really like to have a little bird--providing it survived. The sweet bird they adored was injured in a freak accident and they knew a bird wouldn't be happy unable to walk or fly. "Millett" went to her last sleep very much loved.

So tonight I candled that little egg and there's somebody home--a tiny speck dancing in front of the bright light that invaded it's shell. In two weeks it will hatch--a bizarre looking bit of fluff that wants to eat every two hours from dawn to dusk. The kids at school will watch a miracle and when that little bird is old enough, it will go to a loving family for the twenty or so years of it's natural life span.

I never stop being amazed at the life that pulses in an egg. You can feel it in your hand. That dancing speck will peep when it's ready to hatch. Even now it's just so ALIVE!