Finally!

Not only do I have a house, but the move is imminent! Yay! We are all celebrating. And not only is it going to be a much better environment for me, but it will be great for the birds! Third (or fourth with this one) exclamation point in a row!

I am hoping to move sometime in the next couple of weeks. The house had to be fixed up quite a lot to be safe for me, and while most of the big stuff will be done before I get there, there will be quite a lot of work still to be done. For one, all the walls have to be plastered (with clay or  lime plaster, no additives) or painted (with milk paint, no additives) which is quite a task, but one that is very safe to do around the birds and myself. The basement/ground level still has to be tiled, as well. All that is beside the point, however, since the all fellow parrot nuts are likely to be interested in are the new parrot accommodations, and those, I think, will be very nice! I have been debating how to set them all up, and while I think I have settled on a plan I like, I know it will change again, particularly since it also depends on how the birds themselves settle in.

I am planning to use the entire basement/ground level (it has big windows in the front), minus the large laundry room, for the parrots. So that includes a room that is roughly 12 by 13, and a large open area. The large open area has a main part, a large rectangle, that is about 14 by 24, plus a smaller section that I am really not sure of the measurements on... maybe 8 by 10? So, I am thinking of putting all the cages in the one room, and just using them as sleep/rest cages. Then, depending on how it works out, I think I will separate the smaller section of the large area with mesh, and use that as a small bird flight room, and have the whole larger area as a big bird flight room. That way they can really go to town foraging, since I would have a much larger area to disperse their dishes/skewers/random food holders across!

Obviously, my birds would not be confined to those areas, though, but I am sure most of you know the whole play gym throughout the house routine, so I will not go into that. However, I am hoping no to have to wait too long to screen in the front little porch, so they can use that to get some sun! However, my plans to make an aviary out back are hardly worth mentioning, since they are still so far back in the planning stages.

For those of you wondering about foster birds, though, don't worry- I have a separate building (my airstream) to quarantine them in, plus an outdoor shower for rinsing/changing!

I think I am going to be looking for advice on several matters pertaining to this whole thing very soon- particularly once I get pictures. I have some now, but I don't think they are very nice, being pre- shots, before all the renovation and cleaning.

And so, with that said, I am hoping to get back to blogging and everything else, and get my life back on track!

View from the front door.

I am told the view is better in the winter/fall, but I think it is quite nice now! Perhaps a little pruning on that lovely rose bush, though...... the rosebush is where the landscaping of the former owner began and ended, 

so plenty of work there. Good thing I love gardening- I am planning to do it mostly in native plants.

Happy Easter!

To everyone that celebrates it, I hope you had a wonderful Easter! And hopefully neither you nor your birds got sick on either eggs or candy! Particularly the candy in the birds' case, as any candy is too much for a parrot. And for the egg issue, while I usually limit my birds' egg consumption to one or two appropriate-for-the-parrot-size servings a week, whether that is alone, or spread out in a treat like birdie bread, (see this Easter post from a few years ago) I think Easter is one time when a bit extra egg won't hurt! I keep thinking it would be a wonderful foraging experience to give the larger parrots a whole egg and let them crack it themselves, but I don't want to give them that much egg...

And just for the fun of it, go check out the American Bird Conservancy's bird of the week here!

A cute egg picture, one of Yo-yo and Patty's, from a few years ago.

And while everyone is thinking (if briefly) about eggs, a quick update on the Aussie hormones in this house: Miss Patty laid one egg a couple of weeks ago without too much trouble, and non since, and no effort to follow that lone egg with another in the foreseeable future! And to add that final wonderful cherry on top, all of my tiels have lost their hormones somewhere in the spring rains, and are back to their usual sweet, friendly, quiet (for a parrot) selves!! Yay! Even better, they are all best friends again, snuggling together, their brief rivalry a thing of the past.

By Request: Miss Gwen

Who is not, and please don't even suggest such a thought in her hearing, a bird. No love lost between her and anything with feathers, far from it. Gwen is a dog, a large chihuahua or possible chihuahua mix, and she feels that anything other than herself or other small dogs is not worth the space it takes up on this Earth. Oh, except for any people that might want to give her attention, or even better, food. She doesn't mind that too terribly, either. She can be quite noisy, it is true, but aside from that and her bizarre love of clothing (you really have to see it to believe,as I certainly would never have) she doesn't fit too many of the many terrible chi stereotypes. As I said, she permits people to be in her presence, and will graciously make the rounds to accept praise from each in turn, as long as she is sure none of them poses any danger to me. Admittedly, she doesn't really care for people, other than myself, in that time-honored way of dogs, but she is quite polite, and extremely loyal to me, so really, what more could I ask?

Gwen's story, in brief, is that she is an ex-backyard breeder dropped off at the local animal control, where I adopted her. She was guessed to be around 6 years old at that time, but whether that age is really accurate is not known, and I can't say I care all that much. She is loud, sleeps all the time she is not loud, and is a (nearly) devout vegetarian (her own decision, not mine) with a voracious appetite which results in her frequently eating things that are better left outside the body. When not sleeping or eating things, but sometimes while she is loud, she is full of endless energy, is obsessed with springtime, and is extremely smart. She is also extremely protective of me, and while polite towards people, has no problem chasing off other creatures, like, say, rottweilers or very large lab/German shepherd mixes. Fortunately, she is very quick on her feet, and easily convinces the other animal she is clearly rabid, but I still disagree with her on the wisdom of these moves. And last, but not least, she is very bonded to me, and makes sure I am always ok, and so very sweet about it, too. Except, perhaps, when she is very tired and is pretty sure I am going to be fine soon.

And on the clothes issue, that is quite funny after you get used to it. I got her in the winter, and immediately noticed that she gets cold extremely easily, so of course I knitted her a wool sweater. It quickly became clear, though, that Gwen not only has nothing against clothes, but really loves them in a way prior to this I thought only existed in Disney movies. And to think at one time I questioned whether I would want to deal with suiting up a greyhound, my "dream" dog, in the winter!

 Gwen, the very wise business guru, will take your questions now.

(But she thinks you should already know the answers)

Gwen vs. Black Cup With Treat Under It

 I know it is in here!

 Just gotta get my mouth open a liiittle wider.....

'Nother one? Pretty Please?

P.S. This post is brought to you by me (and Gwen. Mostly Gwen), per request from Hungry Bird.

Local Food Choices are Widening!

We had our last taste of "new" winter yesterday- snow! I say new because even an inch or two of snow was formerly an occasion down here, and now we have snow (not a lot, but still) at the end of March! When will we all get serious about climate change? I mean really. Anyway, despite the chill now in the air (just a bit over a week ago it was in the 70s,which seems closer to normal to me, instead of today's 45) spring is here. The daffodils are out all over the place, in all the shades of the sun, the violets are peaking from under the magnolia, the fruit trees are out in all their legendary glory of pink and white, and the trees in the woods are rushing all their energy into the leaf buds on the tips of their branches; first small barely noticeable and now just beginning to unfurl. While birds are present year round here, their spring exuberance makes their numbers seem to grow far beyond any migration. They seem to be everywhere, always busy, and the flicker reminds us hourly that this part of Virginia, in particular, is his. The air often has that unmistakable odor of the grey and brown waking up, starting to become green. The same delightful scent, by the way, that is already bring on my allergies. Ignoring that, (and learning to ignore that is an ongoing process) it is a lovely time of year!

This Ode to Spring does actually have a correlation with parrots, and a very important one at that! With warm weather comes farmers markets, and farmers markets are the best place to find local, hopefully organic or even better, unsprayed, produce. Not only can you support local farmers by buying their produce, you will be getting food that is far healthier than that which is in the store, as it is fresh. Fruits and veggies loose their nutrients rapidly after being picked, and since many foods, particularly fruits and tomatoes, are picked green to ripen on the way to the store, they will never have the important enzymes available in food picked when ripe. And besides the health reasons to get the freshest (and hopefully organic) food, I also think it is lots of fun to watch the seasons change in the food available, and to get a sampling of all the different foods so you can run home and try to find recipes to use them in. And don't worry if you aren't quite known as a fabulous chef- even simple salads are raised to new heights with fresh ( both literally and figuratively) flavors!

Your parrots will also appreciate the fresh foods. I find my parrots are picky about how "old" their food is, and a parrot that may have formerly shunned a store-bought food like, say, kale, will not be able to resist when it is fresh and crisp, just picked that morning, and hung from the side of the cage or on a skewer. Really, it can make all the difference. And if it doesn't for your parrot, well, don't blame me, please!

Another wonderful edible that makes an appearance in spring is flowers, for either your parrot or you! Obviously, make sure they are not only safe for consumption and not poisonous (trees and flowers), but also 100% free from all pesticides or any other chemical residue (this means anything picked beside a road, for instance, probably isn't a good idea.) Fresh flowers are a great foraging treat for my parrots, some, like Claudia and Frank, devour them, while some just like shredding them to little pieces, and throwing all those little pieces to the wind. I haven't quite decided whether the latter is just same-old same-old parrot behavior, or some form of parrot perfuming.

And finally, just in case anyone needs any inspiration in the food and recipe category (or even if you don't), I am going to link to my review of the always fabulous Phoenix Landing Cookbook. It really is wonderful. I think it is a great human cookbook to, but then, I have a different diet than much of the U.S. public! Even factoring that, I think anyone will find recipes for both their parrots and themselves in it, so I highly recommend it!