Goodbye Barney...

On Monday, 

the weather had been bleak and the sky grey all day... 
It was as gloomy as my feeling... my mood...
My newly-found lovebird was dying...

Last Thursday, 

I heard my helper called out my name... 
to my surprise she pointed at a small red-headed yellow lovebird perched on the iron trellis of my kitchen window. 
It didn't fly away when my brother approaced and tried to catch it, instead, it frantically flew to the ceiling of the bathroom before it manuvered into my room, and there my brother 
managed to catch it.

At first, we thought it belonged to the bird shop next door. 
It's not unusual for us to help them catch escaped birds that flew into our house through my brother's workshop on the first floor. Somehow in my heart I knew that we're destined to meet...
and it was such a surprise to find that it wasn't belonged to them!

Soon, we gave him a new house and I named him Barney... We don't know wether it's a male or female but I just decided that it's a him, and feel that the name really fitted him.
 We don't know how old he was either. 
It's not easy to determine the sex of lovebirds, it usually requires a DNA test.. And after lovebirds have reached the age of 6 mo-1 yo, it will be difficult to tell its age. 
According to the information I read on the internet, Barney is a Lutino Fischer Lovebird originated from Africa. 

When we first found him, he looked fine except that he's not very active. I, who don't have any experience with birds before, found it just normal, considering the new environment and that it might be exhausted and hungry while in the escape.

It ate often and it also slept often!

I have always thought that lovebirds must be kept in pairs, if not it will died of loneliness, so I thought his inactiveness must be related to boredom. Once in a while I saw him biting the iron trellis of his cage and screeched, trying to escape it.

Then I started to find that the lower eyelid of his right eyes was swollen like a small blister. And sometimes his right eye was shut while the left was open. And he slept more often with fluffed-up feathers that made him look untidy.

 Look at how cute he was when sleeping! When I shot him with my camera, he could sense the traffic enforcement light on my camera beeping and he would make a cute peep on me! But just for a while and it would continue his sleep. He liked to tuck his head on his back or inside his wing. And sometimes he went into a deep sleep that he once almost lost his balance on the perch. Then I often found him oozing out on a spot at the corner so he might have a better balance. What a smart bird! 

Barney has brought such a joy into my life though it's for a very short time. I had started to build a friendship with it by talking to him and singing him a lullaby. After a couple of days, he looked more relaxed and no longer scared when I open his cage's door and inserted my hand to changed the newspaper I laid at the bottom of his cage, though he still tried to climb up in order to avoid me.

Last Sunday, he became weaker. He slept all the time, even when he perched on his food box. He would chew the mixed seeds for a while and slept! Many times I had to wake him up by calling his name, but he seemed to be in a deep sleep state that he couldn't really hear me. We started to think that he's an old, sick bird. Maybe his owner had purposedly set him free... 

Poor Barney...

I was so happy that he found us!

I bought an eyedrop for his eyes from our neighbor's bird shop. I applied it on his eyes twice on Sunday. 
And I started to notice that his feces was watery.

On Monday noon, I heard my brother say that Barney's dying...

I rushed to his cage and saw him staggered at the bottom of his cage. He looked struggling...and almost fell....

I kept calling his name...and I could see him trying to open his eyes...but he was too weak already...

He lay there until he was really gone...

I had my brother burried him at the front yard.

Had I learnt all his symptoms earlier, I might still have had a chance to save him...

I still feel the pain...

Barney, thank you for coming into my life, though 

only for a short moment...

I knew from the beginning that you're a gift

 from God.

I'm really happy to have you and to take care of you.

You have given such a joy into my life.

I love you.

And will always remember you.