Ms. Bird found happy and well

Yes, it's "our" Ms. Bird, at her new address, looking lovely.

Curious to know if the white peahen reported in a neighborhood almost two miles from our home is our missing Ms. Bird, we got on our bicycles today and pedaled over there.

We were riding mostly for exercise. I don't think either Bonnie or I expected to find a white peahen, much less Our Miss Bird.

Ms. Bird in the company of a handsome male. Note his absence of long tail. It must not be the mating season.

No sooner did we round the corner where she had been reported than Bonnie chirped "There she is!"

And there she was, in the company of apparently admiring male peacocks. They weren't getting the time of day, if you know what I mean. But she wasn't running away, either.

So our Ms. Bird has found friends among her own species. We miss her but we're happy for her.

We've read on the neighborhood list serve that she is being called "Molly" by some in that neighborhood. I just hope she is being treated like the princess she is.

The genuine Ms. Bird and phony flamingos.

Is THIS the missing Ms. Bird?

Bruce Shemrock's photo of white peahen in Northwest Fort Lauderdale.

Via the neighborhood list serve, from Bruce Shemrock at Northwest Fifth Avenue and 17th Street, came this photo of Ms. Bird "in my yard last week."

If his photo does show Ms. Bird (and it sure looks like her) she is far from "home" but looks to be healthy. Perhaps even better, neighbor Chris Wainwright at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 16th Street said "the other peacocks and peahens in the neighborhood were chasing it off."

Peacocks can be bossy but Ms. Bird is experienced at bossing around the Muscovy ducks in the neighborhood, so she probably can handle herself. At least she finally has the company of her own species.

It is amazing that she could be so far away: there are many busy streets between our house and her new stamping ground. But Ms. Bird has been by herself now for so long that if she heard other peacocks crowing I suspect she would follow the sound as far as necessary to be with her peeps.

Where is Ms. Bird?

Ms. Bird, sight unseen for weeks now.

Where is the peahen?

Yesterday Bonnie posted this notice on the community list serve:

"Ever since she showed up on our block in the summer of 2008, we've loved having the white peahen in the neighborhood. But where has she gone? She has always moved around the neighborhood, but this is the longest time period where I have not seen her. We last saw her on the SOUTH side of 18th Street not far from Federal Highway, and we were alarmed at that location, which is so close to traffic. Has anyone seen her lately?"

There was one report of a sighting, far from here, from someone unfamiliar with Ms. Bird. That seemed unlikely. Other responses agreed with Bonnie that Ms. Bird has gone unseen around here lately.

We're beginning to think that Ms. Bird has moved on.

Her visits to our back yard on Northeast 21st Street had become more fleeting and less frequent in recent months. Occasionally we'd spot her father than usual from her normal beat. Still, she seemed to return pretty reliably to roost at night in the big tree on Victoria Park Road. Sometimes we'd be up and on our morning walk early enough to spot her still in the branches.

When she stopped coming by we theorized that she might be sitting on eggs. But when she does that she will break away for a half hour a day to seek food and to do a big production of honking and flapping far from the nest, to mislead potential predators, we think. We've heard none of that.

Wherever she is we hope she's safe and happy.

Ms. Bird, hurricane survivor

Ms. Bird stops by to say "Hi" after the big bad storm.

Bonnie and I missed Hurricane Irma entirely. A long-planned vacation out west took us away just days before the storm hit, Sept. 10, 2017. Power went out at 5 a.m. that day as the storm, originally forecast to be a monster, struck Fort Lauderdale with "only" tropical storm force winds.

While traveling we were fortunate to hear from our neighbor who cares for birds that Ms. Bird came through the storm safely. We have no idea where she took shelter, but we are grateful.

We were even more pleased that, on our return, Ms. Bird wasted no time in making an appearance at our back door. Now that the shutter was off I am sure it made a nice mirror for her to admire herself.

Neighborhood's magnificent blue peacock is gone

Our last photo of the peacock we named Lord Byron.

The blue peacock, the one my wife nicknamed "Lord Byron" because of his magnificent plumage, is dead. He was the last of Ms. Bird's two chicks, born in July, 2014.

He had been watched with delight by the entire neighborhood.

We spotted his feathers dragged along the center of NE 18th Street at Victoria Park Road this morning on our walk. His feathers are unmistakable, of course. Obviously he had been hit by a vehicle.

It appears someone had removed as much of the body as possible. That was a merciful thing to do.

We have not spotted Ms. Bird so far this morning. We have no reason to believe she was hurt and we hope she is OK and was not driven off.

Peacocks are wild animals, and the ones in this neighborhood have never really been pets, although some residents have claimed to have tamed them to some degree. There is no way I know to keep them "safe."

Of course they lack knowledge of traffic rules.

Lord Byron, in particular, was becoming a regal male, repeatedly spreading his feathers to boss around the local ducks and pigeons. Dominance was becoming his business, as it is for male peacocks.

He was wary, but never afraid.

We enjoyed his displays but will always remember him best as the gawky chick he was, the apple of his mother's eye.

Big blue bird and his big blue bird bath

Lord Byron at his favorite perch.

The big blue peacock we call Lord Byron has a favorite perch in our backyard: a blue ceramic bird bath.

None of the other peacocks who've graced our lives have bothered with bird baths, not even to drink. But Byron loves to stand in this one, gazing out over the Middle River.

He doesn't bathe; rarely seems to drink. Maybe he just likes to cool off his "toes."

He looks so lordly standing there, and — you know — so blue. Does he sense that it's the right color for his plumage to show to advantage?

More importantly, does the peacock understand that the ceramic bowl is not permanently attached to the base and his weight could cause it to tilt and fall off? We try to keep it full of water to help offset his weight on the edge.

Ms. Bird and her growing chick find one another

Mother and child reunion.

Ms. Bird and Lord Byron found one another soon after her return from treatment at the Wildlife Center.

Both discovered they love kale, a new menu item Bonnie introduced to add calcium to their diet. Advice on the Internet is that females need calcium to produce eggs with shells hard enough to make them easy to push out. We're concerned Ms. Bird had trouble with that.

Of course the peacocks eat what they want when and if they want anything. Often they ignore food we offer. Our neighbors offer a variety of things as well, and we see the birds hunting (for bugs?) constantly.

Their relationship is interesting. Lord Byron still seems to follow his mother around; she seems to prefer a bit of privacy. Perhaps she instinctively will not want him around next time she lays. Sometimes there's a peck or the threat of it to warn him off.

And her concern may be well founded as, in her absence, Byron was often seen standing alongside a clutch of young Muscovy ducks in the neighborhood. It wasn't clear if he was there to intimidate them or merely to be a chick himself.

He's only a year old, still too young to become a father.