Hello from Bangkok!

It's a shame that Junior didn't have a chance to get much -- but he found the way to the shelf, and that sounds like a determined youngster. Fingers crossed that he will do better next time. Go, Junior!

Teresa wrote:

It's a shame that Junior didn't have a chance to get much --

but he found the way to the shelf, and that sounds like a determined youngster. Fingers crossed that he will do better next time. Go, Junior!

Three cheers for Junior.

Junior's not repeated the trick. Lazy little guy.

We can't decide if this new one belongs to Henry and Maggie or to the Pretty One and Scruffy, who have also had sex on our balcony. But it has decided it likes staying here, at least during the day. That other new one who definitely is Henry's appeared only the one time and never returned.

But now there's yet another new young one that seems definitely Henry's. Darkish body with a pattern, but the face is partly white, and strikingly so. Looks like it fell face forward into a can of paint. Has stopped by twice this weekend so far.

Another heavy downpour last night, and Maggie's been away for a long time now. There's a long row of townhouses by our complex, and walking past it a few days ago, the wife noticed some pidgee activity up underneath the roof, which has a little space. One was white, possibly Henry. Could be where his nest is?

I'm sure Henry's nest is close by and quite possibly right where you saw the white pigeon.

Maggie doesn't come by as often as Henry?

Siam Sam wrote:

Junior's not repeated the trick. Lazy little guy.

We can't decide if this new one belongs to Henry and Maggie or to the Pretty One and Scruffy, who have also had sex on our balcony. But it has decided it likes staying here, at least during the day. That other new one who definitely is Henry's appeared only the one time and never returned.

But now there's yet another new young one that seems definitely Henry's. Darkish body with a pattern, but the face is partly white, and strikingly so. Looks like it fell face forward into a can of paint. Has stopped by twice this weekend so far.

Quote :

Another heavy downpour last night, and Maggie's been away for a long time now. There's a long row of townhouses by our complex, and walking past it a few days ago, the wife noticed some pidgee activity up underneath the roof, which has a little space. One was white, possibly Henry. Could be where his nest is?

I hope Maggie's allright.
That sounds like a very plausible location for the nest. It may be possible to see now if he flies in tht direction.

Teresa wrote:

Siam Sam wrote:

Junior's not repeated the trick. Lazy little guy.

We can't decide if this new one belongs to Henry and Maggie or to the Pretty One and Scruffy, who have also had sex on our balcony. But it has decided it likes staying here, at least during the day. That other new one who definitely is Henry's appeared only the one time and never returned.

But now there's yet another new young one that seems definitely Henry's. Darkish body with a pattern, but the face is partly white, and strikingly so. Looks like it fell face forward into a can of paint. Has stopped by twice this weekend so far.

That is funny!!

We have not seen Maggie for at least a couple of weeks now. That soaking-wet pidgee we thought was her turned out to be someone else.

But two other pidgees that look like they could have Henry's DNA stopped by yesterday (Sunday). All gray except for two white-lined wings on one of them and one white-lined wing on the other. We're thinking not all of these can be Henry's, unless he's got someone on the side besides Maggie. Have not seen them again, nor the one from a few days ago that was definitely Henry's, but the new one with the white underbelly is still hopping up into the window, and this new White Face seems to like it here now as well. (We're wondering if these last two could be siblings, since most of their markings are very similar.)

I'm really sorry to hear Maggie hasn't been around for that long of period.
It's worrisome when a regular doesn't show up every few days. To at least let us know they are OK.

I hope she's doing alright.

Sadly, Henry is stopping by less and less these days. Partly probably due to too many other pigeons now, but I'm sure it's also because we're putting out less food now. We have no choice, but I swear he seems to understand. Yesterday (Wednesday), he hopped up into the window to ask for food, but there was an army of pigeons behind him! Maybe a dozen. He'd not be able to eat for all of the fighting, so I pointed at the other pigeons and closed the curtain. Instead of keep jumping into the window like he often does, he just seemed to accept it and left. Poor little guy, his little bistro has become too popular. I try to keep a good eye out and feed him if there are not too many others around.

And that one aggressive gray we're having more problems with. The one that intimidates Henry. He really likes to play the Big Boss, but he knows we don't like it. When we catch the gray doing it, we'll point at him and go "No!" I swear he seems to know we mean him wi'll usually leave after that.

Otherwise, the new one that's white on the belly whose parentage we're not sure of has decided he likes it here, and we've named him Joey. This is the other one who has learned the trick of jumping up into the window. But Joey has taken it one step further: He'll be standing there looking in, then suddenly fly straight up about 6 feet, bump into the glass door and drop back down! He's done this several times. That's his way of asking for food, knocking on the door! We'll slip him some then IF there aren't too many others around.

The newest one, White Face, likes hanging around too, especially likes perching on the edge of the flower box. Suzie and Junior hang out for much of the day, too. We'll feed them, too, if outsiders are not around.

for the update, Sam.
I'm sorry that Henry has been inundated by the flock.
I hope he continues to stop by just to let you know he's doing OK.

I'm glad everyone else is doing good.
Have you seen Maggie lately?

No, there's been no sign of Maggie for a while now. Several weeks, much longer than her previous disappearances.

Meanwhile, as mentioned, the two-tone with the white underbelly has been dubbed Joey. He likes hanging around but has developed a slight limp in his right leg. Not broken; still walks and even scratches his head vigorously with it, but landings seem to bother him, and he definitely favors his left leg. We let him hang out here to rest.

The one known as White Face has also taken a cotton to our balcony, and we have dubbed him Moe, after the character of Fat Moe in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, which we just watched on Saturday night. The wife decided she liked the name of Moe. Our Moe is still young, still gives little squeaks and squeals but has lost all of his baby fuzz. We think Joey and Moe may be siblings, but we can't agree on who the parents are -- I think it may be Henry and Maggie, the wife thinks the Pretty One and Scruffy, based on the patterns on their backs. Moe's markings resemble those on Big Pidgee a bit. Will have to get those photos up.

Henry is still coming around but is visibly annoyed at all these other pigeons hoping for some food. He came by once the other day, I put some food out, and before he could even get to it, about nine or so others swooped in. There were so many that Henry just looked at them from the top balcony rail, then dropped down and jumped up into the window to ask for some for himself. That happened again this morning, too.

But yesterday (Monday), a bizarre incident occurred. I had removed the last load of laundry from our dryer about 9am and had cleaned out the dryer lint. I was going to go throw the bag with the lint out in the trash, when I see Henry on the balcony peering in, wanting some breakfast, so I waved hello signaled to him that I'd be right back.

The trash cans are set inside the stairway, the door to which is just outside our front door. I always run out there to throw trash away even if I'm minimally dressed. I was wearing my usual house wear, what's called a phakhima. A phakhima is a long piece of checkered cloth that men wear wrapped around their waste like a towel. Very commonly worn around the house and even, in the villages, outside the house in the neighborhood. In Bangkok, it's not really good to wear it outside our unit in what is a moderately upscale condominium, but again I can just run out, dump the trash then back in, maybe five seconds.

Unfortunately, this time I left the laundry-room door open. Our laundry room is open to a tall shaft that runs the entire 36-story height of our building. A rail grid keeps us from falling into it. But leaving that door open created a draft that slammed the front door shut behind me as soon as I went out to drop the trash. And the door locked.

So there I was wearing my phakhima, essentially a towel, locked out, the wife away and Henry waiting for breakfast. I gritted my teeth and went down the stairs three floors to the building office on the third floor. They called the locksmith, who was there in only 10 minutes. But while I was sitting in the office, which is located on the same side of the building as our unit, I actually saw Henry flying away, swooping down to the temple parking lot below. Poor little guy waited as long as he could before deciding I wasn't coming back and giving up. Did not come back that morning or early afternoon, and we were both away later in the afternoon. But I did get to feed him some this morning.

Oh my goodness!! What an event you had, Sam.
I must say though, reading about it truly made my day.

I'm glad Henry finally got to eat.
I'm so sorry Maggie hasn't been by.

The good news is Maggie has returned after a lengthier-than-usual absence. We're sure it's her this time and not Fake Maggie like before, because even Henry recognizes her as such instead of chasing her away like he did the other one. They were even kissing the other day.

The bad news is Henry remains frustrated by the other pidgees muscling in on his territory. We feed him when we can if there's not too many others around, but it seems most of the time someone else will show up at some point while he's eating, causing him to concentrate on chasing them away or fighting.

New photos! There have been several new ones that resemble Henry but then disappear after only one appearance or two. Joey and Moe, who probably, or at least possibly, are not Henry's, have decided to hang around.

This one from July 3 shows one who may be Henry's but then disappeared. (Pardon the condition of the balcony; this was the day before a big cleaning.)

This one is of one of the generic pigeons that come around, but it's a sleepy little guy, on July 19. That's frost from the air-conditioner on the glass door.

Jumping ahead to August 18, we meet Joey, here and here. Looking a little sleepy himself in that second one. Note the cute white belly. Then on the same day, this guy stopped by, obviously Henry's. Note the end of his wing is rather brown. Never saw him again, though.

Still on that same day, we see Joey looking comfy on a corner of the flower box here and here. We think he was not long out of the nest, no matter who his parents were. Then five days later, on August 23, Joey's out practicing his ballet. That leg bothers him some now, though.

And still on August 23, we see little Moe, originally dubbed White Face. A better shot is here. Note the Big Pidgee pattern and white shoulders, another feature that Big Pidgee, the main one to hang around originally, used to have.

And on August 26, we see the newest one to start hanging around. Obviously one of Henry's. Snoozing in this one, too, with I believe it's Joey popping up in the door.

No new ones of Henry or Maggie this time. But he's still around, and lately so has she been. Again, there have been at least a couple of others who could belong to Henry popping in, then disappearing before we can take their photo. Can't really all belong to Henry though, unless he has something going on on the side. Hmmm, well this IS Thailand.

I so enjoyed your photos, Sam. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Joey and Moe are beautiful. In fact Moe kind of has the same feather pattern on his wings that one of our rescues, from a few years back, has.

This is Annie Fancy Feathers when she came back for a visit after being absent for a couple years.


I'm so glad to hear Maggie returned for a visit and that Henry is doing well.

Nice photo, too. Gee, a couple of years is a long time.

And Henry and Maggie "did the deed" again in the designated sex area yesterday afternoon (Sunday afternoon). She's definitely back.

Siam Sam wrote:

* Nice photo, too.

** Gee, a couple of years is a long time.

*** And Henry and Maggie "did the deed" again in the designated sex area yesterday afternoon (Sunday afternoon).

**** She's definitely back.

* Thanks.

** I was quite surprised when I saw her wandering about outside, especially after such a long absence.
It was wonderful seeing her. At least I knew, at that time, she was doing good.

*** Three cheers For Henry and Maggie!!

****

I had a thought. Henry still hops up onto the little sliding-door edge and presses up against the glass to ask for food. Did it just a little while ago, too. I'm wondering if he's tried this with other units in this building, as the balcony doors are all the same. The unit residents would have to be awfully surprised.

Yep! They would get a surprise alright.

Hi Sam,

I've just been catching up on your latest news. So glad to hear that Maggie has come back!
Poor Henry, trying to beat the competition! But he's a clever pigeon, and with a bit of luck he'll manage to avoid the others and get some goodies.
And poor you, locked out in your housewear! The story is very funny, the sort of thing you'd see in TV sitcoms, but I can imagine how disappointed you were that you couldn't get back in time to feed Henry.

I really enjoyed seeing the photos of your very pretty birds. Perhaps Henry has been busy... ... or perhaps he's got very similar siblings or cousins generating a whole new clan with those markings! I mean, Cindy's rescue, Annie Fancy Feathers, also looks very similar, but Henry's virility couldn't span so many miles, could it?

Henry and Maggie may not nest here, but they sure like to use our balcony as their own little short-time motel. They stopped by to "do the deed" twice yesterday afternoon (Wednesday afternoon). We especially like the way Maggie struts around once in a little circle afterward with her wings one-quarter extended. I really need to try to get a video of this, but we don't have a video camera.

Henry is so smart. Wanted feeding this morning. I put a little out despite there being a few other pidgees around. Then more showed up, so Henry can't get to the food and jumps up in the window to ask for more. I pointed at the others and said no, then closed the curtains. He needs to cut into the crowd. But whenever I do this, he seems to understand perfectly and always gets back down. Some time later, I opened the curtains again to see him and one stranger pidgee still out there. He looked at me hopefully, and I gave him some more. He managed to have a good feed without all of those others butting in.

Siam Sam wrote:

Henry and Maggie may not nest here, but they sure like to use our balcony as their own little short-time motel. They stopped by to "do the deed" twice yesterday afternoon (Wednesday afternoon). We especially like the way Maggie struts around once in a little circle afterward with her wings one-quarter extended. I really need to try to get a video of this, but we don't have a video camera.

Henry is so smart. Wanted feeding this morning. I put a little out despite there being a few other pidgees around. Then more showed up, so Henry can't get to the food and jumps up in the window to ask for more. I pointed at the others and said no, then closed the curtains. He needs to cut into the crowd. But whenever I do this, he seems to understand perfectly and always gets back down. Some time later, I opened the curtains again to see him and one stranger pidgee still out there. He looked at me hopefully, and I gave him some more. He managed to have a good feed without all of those others butting in.

Thre cheers for clever Henry!

Ya just gotta love Henry!!

Our Samantha will 'strut' as you described Maggie doing.
They just seem so proud of what they've accomplished.

Three never-before-seen pidgees appeared yesterday (Monday), two very young ones and an older male, BIG, and very beautiful. Rather silvery. Didn't seem very afraid of me either.

Of the two young ones, one looked like a cross between Joey and Moe. Very small and seemed to be curious about everything. So small -- the head was so tiny -- that I looked closely for signs of yellow baby fuzz but dould detect none. I now tend to think the wife is correct about Joey and Moe belonging to the Pretty One and Scruffy, and this Joey/Moe hybrid may be theirs, too. The other one was a definite Henry offspring, very white, with a few black streaks on its back and black polka dots all around its head. Unfortunately, I had my hands full at the time and was unable to get a picture of any of them.

Little Susie has apparently left. I don't think we've seen her for two whole weeks now. Occasionally, when we walk down and out to the street, we'll see a large flock of pigeons flying continuously in a large circle, over and over, like they're racing or playing, maybe 20 of them, and we think we've spotted Susie among them in the past. So she's made friends. Probably has found a mate; by our reckoning, she's probably about six months old now, as she first showed up here right after we returned from Vietnam.

But the new regular white one -- not the one that appeared yesterday, but rather the new regular, who appears in that last batch of photos a few posts back (this one), has decided she likes it here. We've held off naming her, in case she doesn't stick around, just calling her Sweetie instead. Now that she's decided to be a regular, the name Sweetie has stuck. We think she's a girl, very feminine-looking, although one time she pulled some sort of aggressive masculine thing, so maybe she's a ladyboy? This IS Thailand.

I actually touched Joey or Moe yesterday, not sure which one. They both look similar from the back, and this one had his back to me eating. Was so involved in eating that he did not notice me open the door. I bent down and touched him, and he freaked and flew away quickly. Very soft. But Joey's leg is noticeably better. Still favors the left a bit, but the right leg has improved, whatever was bothering it.

And this morning, for the first time, Maggie jumped up into the window. I was busy changing their water, and she must have figured I was being slow with the food, as when I returned with the water, she was up in the window staring in. Maggie's showing up full-time again with Henry, but we're having to cut back some on food again, because, as usual, there are too many coming around. Henry now understands, or seems to, what it means when I close the windows. He and Maggie does get some food though.

What a great update, Sam.
It sounds like the pijjies are doing good.

I can sure see why they enjoy your balcony so much.
Quite and secluded. A wonderful place to park their feathers and take a nap in a cool spot under the 'trees'.

Have not seen the three from Monday morning again, and it's Wednesday here now.

I don't think I've mentioned Big Eyes. A tiny young one that appeared a couple of weeks ago that has, you guessed it, rather large eyes. Everything else about him is small, seems to be a young adult. We think he's male, as he's like a little attack pigeon. He's very aggressive, even against pidgees that are much larger than he is, and we're trying not to encourage him to hang around. However, he has caught on to the jumping-up-in-the-window bit and does it endlessly. But it's not working for him, hehehe.