baby bird almost takes flight

As some of you might know, we have a nest full of purple martins right above our front door of our house. They come every year flying to and from South America. This year they had several baby birds!

Two of the babies are hanging out on the ground near the front door close to momma and pappa. It seems they are not quite ready for flying yet. Katie and I have to go through the garage door to avoid any accidents!

This morning, one of the babies got some encouragment from momma bird and found their way to the front yard about 15 feet from their nest. The baby bird was flapping it wings really hard and running fast with momma bird right behind. Unfortunately, the baby bird ended up crossing the sidewalk all the way to the busy street! The baby bird just sat there waiting for direction.

After a few minutes I took it upon myself to do some encouraging as well and helped the baby bird make its way back to the yard. I wonder by the time I get back home if the baby bird will have learned how to fly! I hope the other baby bird learns from their big brother!

Here are some more pictures! Hope you enjoy!

Heartworms

Got news on Friday that Jack has heart worms. Took him to the vet this morning for pre-diagnostics which includes, exam, blood profile, radiograph's, and an urinalysis. They need to check his heart, liver & kidneys before they begin the treatment.

Once he's cleared for treatment, they will keep him in the hospital for 2 days injecting him with an Immidicide which is suppose to kill the worms. We then have to wait 3 weeks for additional exams and oral medicine. By week 5, we will test him again and if negative begin monthly heart worm prevention.

Our vet said Wylie has seen more positive cases then normal. She said its due to the nearby lake. Heart worm comes from misqutoe bites. They lay larvae in the blood stream. She said for outside dogs like Jack, its almost certain w/o prevention a dog will get heart worms.

The procedure is pretty safe and successful. So, I'm not too worried. Plus Jack is a fighter. A few days after he was born, my old vet diagnoised him with parvo. Telling me he had 4 days to live. Got a 2nd opinion and they said it was a stomach virus. They perscribed Tamiful, the same stuff used to fight swine flu for humans. Within a few days he was fine!

I miss him a ton and cant wait to get him home soon. He was so excited about going. I wonder if he'll change his mind the next time we visit the vet. :P

Owens Farm

Katie and I took a tour of Owens Farm in Richardson the other day. A much needed break. We fed the goats, said hi to two 1 week old pony's and saw a tiny baby goat. They were cute of course. We got really close to a huge horse named Midnight. Midnight made the big bulls look really tiny. Here are some pictures we took on our cell phone of our fun adventure. Hope you like.




We were alittle nervous with these longhorns. They didnt seem too happy with us touching their horns.








This little guy got his head stuck in the fence!!








It was slimy. Had to wash our hands afterwards!










I was having way to much fun! :)







Katie fed them as fast as possible. :)