Scout Update And Fun With Papercraft!

So now Scout is 4 weeks old! She is getting along nicely, only favors the healing leg a bit and is getting to be a stronger flier. She is growing flight feathers at a nice clip and eats like a horse.

What a difference a month makes! She actually has a tail now and is good & healthy. She instinctively does that mockingbird wing-spread thing to hunt for bugs on the ground. She enjoys things like mealworms (and any other bug), nectarines, grapes, lettuce and tiny bits of people food.

Recently I've been having some fun doing some little papercraft figures--different from origami.  These are models that you print out on heavy cardstock, then cut out and assemble. There is a wealth of fun, creative and often complex and elegant free papercraft model printouts on the web.

Here are some Nani birds, the three 'bots from Silent Running and other assorted fun things.

Scout, hanging out nearby, was NOT impressed.

One thing I did not know--mockingbirds have long, whisker-like 'feelers' at the corner of their beaks on each side, you can see them in these pictures. I think they are sensing equipment just like whiskers on a cat. Interesting!

Scout's On Bug Patrol!

And doing a damned fine job of it, too! Last night she spent a good hour zooming around the living room, expertly and delicately flying up to tiny bugs on the ceiling that only SHE could see and snatching them up. Then she would fly back down to me, chirp 'Breep!' and proudly show them to me before gobbling them up. Heh. We praised her, of course. Every so often she'd miss, which would be accompanied by a loud, irritated 'Peep!' and a disgruntled return to the top of her cage before reorienting and finally capturing the bug.

She's definitely getter stronger and better at flying, which is a good thing. She is still a baby though, insisting on being fed every so often. We had her cage out back the other day and N. caught a june bug, which was promptly slipped into her cage.

It was like Christmas for mockingbirds! She lit up and started to madly chase it around, looking to impale it on her pointy little rapier-like beak. Sadly, it got away with a lucky fumble through the bars. But there's always next time!

Watching her last night was better than TV!