Just wanted to update you with a photo of one of the baby Lady Gouldian finches that I am hand raising.

Ugly, isn’t it? Wait about 5 months though. You won’t believe the change!

COMPLETELY off the subject but I had to share. In the last year I decided to get back into an old hobby of mine. I used to be a hobby breeder of finches. Silverbills, bronze wing mannikins, java rice and of course the prized Lady Gouldian finches.

Gouldians are so spectacularly colored that they almost come across as gawdy. But they are sweet and calm as far as finches go and don’t flutter about in a panic as some birds do. They often come up the the cage bars and get close to me to look carefully at my face as I talk to them.

Unfortunately the pair that lays fertile eggs is continuing to toss out freshly hatched young and I can’t seem to just watch nature take its course. So for the 3rd time I am “trying” to hand feed 2 baby finches. I estimate their chances at slim to none but I still persevere in feeding them about every hour.

Notice the distinctive marks on the mouth. These help the parents to locate the beaks in a dark nest.

They are so ugly they are cute. The little chirps they are starting to make, breaks my heart.

In this pic it is one day old and as of today they are 4 days old.