A long journey By now, it was late April. I searched on the internet for a young Black-headed Caique, but it was perhaps too early on in the breeding season. Eventually, I saw an advertisement for a hand- reared bird, ten months of age and believed to be female. Her name was “Billie” and her owner, Lisa, wished to sell her because she was expecting her first baby and felt unable to cope. The problem was that Lisa lived up in Lancashire, which meant a 7 or 8 hour round trip by road from my house in Buckinghamshire. As it happened, my son, Martin, called to see us that evening. He’d recently passed his driving-test and was a good driver, I’d spent many hours sitting next to
him whilst he was
practising.
Martin was keen for more experience and offered to take me. On a beautiful morning in May last year, using his satellite navigation system, we set off at around 9 a.m. About halfway, we stopped for a break, then continued on our journey and met with some very heavy traffic. I began to fret. What if the bird was sick? Perhaps Lisa had changed her mind and didn’t want to sell after all. Maybe we would find no one at home. We arrived at 1.45 p.m. My concerns were unfounded. Once there, we saw a little parrot gaily hopping from Lisa’s shoulder onto that of her mother, then back again. I was absolutely enchanted! I stretched out my hand
and was promptly bitten hard on
the
Polly loves a spray bath as much as Billie hates it. She loses all her inhibitions, spreads both wings fully and gets thoroughly wet. Once, I was giving Polly her bath when Billie went and hid behind a large pot in the recess of the room.
10 BIRD SCENE
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