June was a great month – my birthday month! And in celebrating, The Horse and Man Group donated to two horses in need.
First we collected for Samson, the poor horse whose owner blinded him so he would not spook while going up and down the Grand Canyon. Luckily, Samson was saved by Equine Voices and walked out of the Canyon. You can read his story here.
Then, we had an Emergency Bucket Fund to help Skydog Sanctuary rescue 3 BLM donks who were in the kill pen. We did that! You can read their story here. And you can read about their arrival to Skydog, here.
Look at Samson horribly misshapen body…
The three donkeys in the killpen. Two are BLM branded. Awful.
THE RECEIPTS!
Here is the receipt to Skydog Sanctuary for the donkeys! THANK YOU!! Amazing!
I blocked out the email address that I sent this donation to because of sensitivity.
THANK YOU, EVERYONE
Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and donations! I am so pleased to have a very successful birthday month! THANK YOU!
UPDATE ON THE BABY BIRDS!
Later in the Spring, we had 5 eggs in the ‘just outside of the office’ nest – and they all hatched! This was my first experience with baby birds (I think they are Robins because the eggs are robin’s egg blue). I had no idea how eggs became birds… so I Googled just about every stage of development and then took photos to confirm. It was a very successful endeavor, I think, because all 5 babies got big and flew away.
Well… while devouring all I could about baby robins, I had read that the birds usually nest 2-3 times a season.
So, on my birthday, I checked the nest hoping for a birthday surprise… and there was no surprise. The nest was barren, just as they had left it.
But, on June 14th, I discovered that there were TWO adult birds sitting in the nest. I knew that two adults were on the nest because whenever I would exit my office out of the slider, I would see them fly away… Aha! I thought to myself… there must be new eggs!
So, I got out my tall stepladder and reached my arms up way high – and took photos. I had no idea if I was aiming right or not.
i cannot see into the nest when I’m standing on my stepladder, on my tippy toes with my arm straight up – so forgive the angles. 4 eggs!!!
I think these are either different birds, or a different male. I say this because last time, there was only one bird sitting on the eggs. Or at least I think there was only one bird. I only saw one bird.
This time, I consistently saw 2 birds in the nest. So, I think she found a better fella. Not sure.
Anyway, on June 14th, there were 4 eggs.
Then, when I checked them on June 26th, there were 4 creepy, red, hairless dinosaur looking squishy things. Ugh. I thought they were dead.
I didn’t get the focus very well on this one… but there they are. 4 scary looking, hairless dinosaur looking things.
I decided to wait another two weeks, until July 2nd, and then I asked Hubby to take a photo. I was afraid they were all a gooey, dead mess up there. I hadn’t seen the adult birds in a while. The adults were either off getting food all the time for the hungry chicks… or they were all dead and gone.
Here is the photo Hubby took – on the ladder with his arm outstretched, but not on his tippy toes. They were alive!
They were alive! The feathers were just coming in… It is difficult to count, but there are 4.
So, now with newfound bravery, I went up to the nest today to check on them. They still have a ways to go with their feathers, but they are all very fat, healthy little chicks! 4 little babies with some of their feathers coming in. They all have those Einstein crazy tufts around their faces.
Here they are! They sit rock solid in the nest when I’m taking a photo. They sit scary still – I bet they are holding their breath!
Last time, I went to the nest on ‘fly away day” and didn’t realize it. I climbed up there with my camera and one of the chicks screamed at me and flew the nest right past my ear! I was so startled, I fell off the stepladder.
I didn’t want to upset them and make them fly the nest sooner than they were ready, so I left them alone.
The next day, the nest was bare.
I think these guys have a few days left before they are ready!
