The year 2005 started with grief. Two members of the Birds-Online-flock lost their lives due to tragic incidences. Therefore I didn't want to buy myself new bird or adopt one from an animal shelter because I still wasn't over the loss of my beloved Serenios who died much too young. My heart was broken and I had to come over these sad feelings.

But there were some caring people among my friends who decided that a young budgie would bring back joy into my life and more verve into the flocks' everyday life. Thus Jasmin, Jenna and Karin made a plan and surprised me a lot on Sunday at Easter.

When I had a visit from Jasmin she didn't come to my place on her own. She stood at my door with a cage in her hand - and in it was the cutest little budgie I have ever seen. Jasmin had the idea to surprise me that way and she told two other ladies about it. They immediately liked this plan and offered their help. Therefore a week before Easter Jenna and Karin visited a breeder, bought the young budgie and gave it to Jasmin because she wanted to bring it to my home as an Easter gift. Well, she and her accomplices did a good job, I was very happy and of course surprised. That's the story, on 3/27/2005 the enchanting budgie baby moved into my bird room.

Jasmin had taken the beautiful bird to an avian vet for a complete check-up before she brought it to my home. So we knew that it was healthy and therefore it could immediately become a new member of my flock without any quarantine. A few minutes after arriving at my place the young budgie conquered the other birds' hearts - and of course he conquered mine, too. In the beginning, the cere looked like the nose of a female budgie and therefore I chose a female name. But a few days later I recognized that the bird is male so I called him Nik.

In the beginning of June 2005 Nik fell in love for the first time. His beloved first wife was called Medea. She never had a man at her side before so she felt very happy when Nik started courting her. But Medea was a bit capricious and complicated. Therefore Nik took another woman as his wife in autumn 2005: Niobe (see photo on the right). They caressed each other very often and even mated from time to time. Well, and when Niobe took a nap the shiny blue daredevil flirted with his former love Medea. Regrettably, Niobe died much too young. After this, he fell in love with Brunhilde. It's sad to say, but in fall 2006 he again lost his love when Brunhilde died. But he loved life much too much and therefore remained this little womanizer he always used to be, and soon he had a new wife: Tara whom he loved until he passed away. In the end of November 2009, he became terribly ill and all my efforts to help him weren't enough. My avian vet said that Nik was a very brave and strong bird since he survived the worst stage ot the disease. But after a few days, the mucormycosis regrettably killed him. Nik, thank you for bringing so much joy into my life. You were one of the most cheerful birds I have ever met. I will never forget you, little one!

Nik's colour mutation is called Yellowface in mauve, but most the photos show a wrong colour. In the photos Nik seems to be blue. When this charming budgie perches somewhere close to the window and the sunlight touches his feathers the dark mauve is amazingly beautiful.

Meaning of the name
When I was thinking about a new name for the bird, I was listening to music from the eighties. Nik Kershaw was singing, he was one of my heroes when I was a teenager. Well, that's how my budgie got his name.