Opal

Opal arrived at the SF ACC as a stray on 5/2. She was found at Geary and 11th. I'm full up on foster pigeons and so did not take her home right away. Poor thing- she spent more than 6 weeks in the shelter. Finally, on 6/18, I brought her home to my flock of rescued pigeons. She (?) is just a young bird and is very sweet and beautiful. Someone at the shelter named her Pearl but I changed it to Opal because I had a very special bird named Pearl and, when she died on 2/7, she took her name with her. The name Opal seems to suit this dark-eyed beauty well.



The first night I brought her home from the shelter and took her out to the aviary, rather than fly away immediately, she stood in my hand for many minutes, just looking around and taking it all in. Then, several times, I felt her toes curl around my fingers and she FLEW in place, flapping her wings like crazy while holding on to my fingers. It was incredible, magical, wonderful. I would have loved to grab the camera and take a picture but I didn't, afraid I'd break the spell.



I checked on her that evening to make sure she was settling in well and she did. The next day, she took a bath and held her own (in a soft, sweet way) when playboy Tony came courting and then his angry, jealous 2nd wife, Doll, showed up and still Opal did fine, holding on to her little corner of the platform and drying off from her bath.







9/11/08 Update
Opal has mated with Rome. They are a strikingly beautiful couple and chose the center left box in the "Hollywood Squares" nestbox.





12/4/08 Update
Opal and her mate Rome have been adopted by a wonderful family and now live (happily ever after) with their friends Billie & George, Willow & Blue and three chickens in a big, gorgeous aviary.