a week of birds

the last week has been very much about birds around here. and not only because of easter and easter eggs. but on the other hand: all our bird adventures fitted this holiday perfectly. so here it goes:

first of all: we got our first chickens. yay! D brought them home in a box and set them out in our chicken coop. the guy we bought them from had tied their legs together, poor things, and D had his chicken skills tested when trying to cut the strings because the chickens would get really scared and go crazy. the kids were excited, standing outside. i think they were equally excited about the chickens and the fact that dad was out of his league for a moment. they were all buzzing "dad's scared of chickens, dad's scared of chickens". very funny when you're 3, i realize now.
we now have three ladies as number four couldn't be moved while brooding. we'll take her and her chicks when they've hatched.

we had filled their nesting boxes with fresh grass, but the next day we went to the field down the road to collect some hay for their nest. and we saw the most amazing thing: a huge flock of white storks were picking and eating from the field. it was just awesome to watch these giant birds as they were taking a break on their route from africa to russia and europe for the summer. right here in our field. i tried to sneak up on them to take a photo, but they saw me immediately and would move back 10 meter or so everytime i moved forward. and with my little p&s camera i'm afraid the photos don't do the sight any justice. but take my word: it was amazing!

at our return we found the first egg in the nest. Lots of excitement and cheers. everyone had to hold it and luckily it survived the traveling from hand to hand including some minor fights about who's turn was up.

finally, to end this week of birds, i finished my origami crane mobile. it's made of 24 cranes and i have meant to make it for, well, forever. all the bird adventures were exactly the push i needed to get it done. i am very happy about it, but still haven't found the right spot to hang it.