"This Bird Has Flown" Freckles, our beautiful and personable cockatiel, passed away last night or early this morning. Sad day. However, as she was pretty old in bird years (approx 14 years), this was not so unexpected. Really, she gave us so much pleasure and joy over the years. While sad, I have such fond memories of how fun, loving, and yes, sometimes ornery, she was. (Well, she was not that ornery with Becky!) She was so sweet (at times), so teeny tiny, delicate, and with SUCH personality! The past night or two, she spent some extra fun time boxing a leather toy Becky gave her -- and ringing the little bell connected to it. Over the past couple days and nights, she seemed to spend some extra time sitting on the floor of her cage resting. In years past, this meant she was getting ready to lay some eggs. Not this time. When I opened her cage today, she was sitting peacefully there on the floor of her cage, with her head elegantly dipped down, and her chin gently tucked under