Sunday, June 21, 2009

wherefor art thou, Fred ?

It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly particular sounds become part of our aural landscape - the largely unheeded background of our day to day doings

I've only had Fred and Ethel for a few months and without me even noticing, their constant chatter has seeped into the 'normal' noise around here.


Guinea Fowl males call " chichichi" and the girls call " buckwheat buckwheat" [ a bit like a squeaky gate ] and they talk to each other constantly, seldom straying more than a foot or so away from each other as they potter happily around the goat paddock

So it seemed eerily silent - despite the normal morning noise of umpty gazillion magpies, pigeons, wrens and honeyeaters and the the background mumbling of four goats - when I went out to feed everyone and found only a bewildered Ethel, buck-wheating at a fraction of her normal volume.
Maybe I'll be able to report Fred's return soon but I'm not feeling spectacularly hopeful

16 comments:

Donna Lee said...

Oh, poor Ethel. I hope you find Fred.

Tara said...

Oh no!! Come home Fred! :(:(:(

lisette said...

no!! that's awful - i hope he just went off on a saturday night bender and that he turns up soon

hugs

f xx

chris said...

come home fred

we miss you.....

Bernie said...

Won't you come home my dear Fred, Ethel is worried and won't go to bed.
I do hope you find Fred soon...Hugs

Warty Mammal said...

Oh, no. Not good. Not good at all. I'll hope for the best.

Ironically, my word verification is "geesse", which could be a misspelling of "geese", another type of bird.

Sue said...

I was just thinking how nice it was to see the two of them and it made me laugh when I realised that my grandmother and her brother were those exact same names and used to talk to each other all the time. I do hope Fred returns safely.

Lynne said...

Oh no! Here's hoping!

Robbyn said...

Poor Fred!
Poor Ethyl :(

Here's hoping!

Blessings each day said...

Please keep us updated on Fred...couldn't you send Bear out looking for him??

Do you have any nearby predators?

And where's Crocodile dundee when you need him??

blessings and hugs,

marcy

Dawn said...

I love Guinea Fowl. I did a lot of growing up on a placier gold mine in the middle of nowhere. We had them for watchdogs. Nothing will wake you up like a scared/pissed Guinea Hen. They kept the grizzlies away from our camp.

Anonymous said...

Poor Ethel. I pray Fred has gone for a break from the nagging.

Fred phone home. Better still come home.

Sheepish Annie said...

Oh dear. Maybe he's just gone out for milk or a walk. I like happy endings so I need to believe that Fred is on his way back as I type this. Poor Ethel...

crazyhaberdasher said...

When we lived in Melbourne, we had a daily visit from two ducks (didn't name them as you have (Fred and Ethel Mertz from I Love Lucy?)) then sometimes there would only be one - Chris thought that the female must have been sitting on the nest. But this time of year is a little early for that.

catsmum said...

Yeah Maz, I'd love for that to be the reason, but guinea fowl don't even start nesting until October apparently

Alwen said...

Uh-oh, poor Ethel!

I had to stop for a couple of guinea fowl last Thursday on my drive to work. They say they are death on ticks.