By next Saturday (a few days before we move the birds and other pets), the finches will all have been caught and housed again in the Original Aviary which is really a very large flight cage.   The two budgies who current live in the Original Aviary will be housed in small cages.  The finches and budgies will be in fairly cramped quarters, but it's only going to be a few days so no real harm will be done.  It will take a couple of mornings of work to dismantle and thoroughly wash the aviary and all its furnishings.   I want to give myself plenty of time in which to accomplish the cleaning and the moving to lessen the stress on everyone, birds included.

I'm sure the move will go just fine.  Now all we have to make sure is that the flooring contractors get their work done in time...

ABOVE:   Unaware of the
impending move, one of the green
singing finches preens itself.

Hah! We made it! We now live at the new house and have done so for just over two weeks. What a relief to finally be here! The major part of the extensive renovations have been completed so all we have to do now is unpack a basement full of boxes and begin living the rest of our lives ...

There were no casualties among the finches. However, the hard drive on my computer mysteriously died a few days after the move and one of our gerbils became very ill, too. Stuff was re-installed on my computer and it's now okay. We were quite concerned about the gerbil, though with a lot of handfeeding of fresh corn on the cob, she seems to be recovering quite nicely. She's still very skinny and a little droopy-eyed, but is up and running around with her two sisters again.

The move for the critters was done a few days prior to moving our possessions. A large truck was rented and the disassembled aviary was loaded. Once all the pieces were in place, in went the birds who'd been temporarily housed in their original large flight cage.

The trip to the new house took only five or six minutes. The finches were unloaded first and set up in the nearby, yet out of the way, dining room. The aviary's sections were washed and wiped dry before being put together in their place of honour in the living room.

The first thing people see, us included, when they enter our house is the imposing, yet beautifully crafted, structure housing our finches. Everyone's first instinct is to walk right up to the aviary and (almost) press their noses to the Plexiglas. Yet, that's the one thing that upsets the finches the most. Their instinct to flee kicks in and pandemonium breaks out. Finches, in their fright, are everywhere and our guests wonder why.

ABOVE and BELOW:  Eleanor,
our female white head nun,
in the throes of preening.

Instinctively, five or six feet of comfort space around the aviary is allowed the finches. In the old house, a natural barrier of furniture gave them the extra personal space. Here, however, the room is so open that I feel compelled to draw some kind of invisible line on the floor to dissuade visitors from invading the birds' space. Of course, I have to do it verbally, yet I haven't quite come up with a tactful way of saying, "Stand back from the finches! You're scaring them!". Often by the time I realize it must be said yet again, the people have already rushed up in wonder to the aviary. Yes, indeed, I must refine my social skills so as not to unduly frighten our guests into not frightening the finches.

ABOVE:   Left to right,
one of our male society finches snuggling
with one of the red cheeked waxbills.