Laura's Bird World

Recent Things for Wings Order

2011-07-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of my recent Things for Wings order.

A variety of wood pieces

Other toy parts

And I finally got 3 Poi Garden toys.

Crystal's Bird Toys Order

2011-06-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

I placed an order with Crystal's Bird Toys for the first time on the weekend and I couldn't be happier with the service and the products that got delivered today. The toys are almost too pretty to give to the birds :)

Here's the box before opening it. Once the wrapping was off, the box used was from photocopier paper ... just to put the size of the box into perspective.

I had to take a picture of some of the pretty birdy stamps on the wrapping paper

And this is the box FULL of toys!

4 Candy Drops - some with spruce and some with balsa wood

4 Neptunes

4 Pine Trees

4 Spin Me Around's

4 Grub Packs

And this is the whole order together.

I'll have to get pictures as Lucy, Jessie and Kylie destroy them :)

Long Weekend at the Trailer

2011-05-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

Since Kylie joined our flock after we closed the trailer in 2010, this was her first weekend there. I've made great progress with getting her to step-up onto a perch in preperation for putting her into her trailer cage. However ... I should have introduced the trailer cage earlier than the day we wanted to go there. She finally went in, but it took about an hour. I know what I need to work on. Anyways, Kylie was pretty quiet and didn't eat much on Friday after we got to the trailer, but by Saturday she was back to her normal self. She really seemed to enjoy herself. She got to enjoy seeing lots of animals and lots of people came by to visit with the birds.

Lucy at the trailer
Jessie at the trailer

Avian Organics Quick Serve

2011-04-12T05:44:00.000-07:00

Made some Avian Organics Quick Serve for the birds for breakfast this morning with some AO Cazula mixed in. The birds dug right in and really seemed to enjoy their breakfast!

Avian Organics Order

2011-04-11T16:18:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of my recent Avian Organics order. I bought the following:

- Aztec Crunch

- Jungle Trails

- Avian Organics Quick Serve

- Cazula

- Calypso Carrot Bird Bread

- Blueberry Mini Sticks

And here's a picture of Jessie enjoying an almond from the Avian Organics Aztec Crunch

You can purchase Avian Organics products here: http://www.avianorganics.com

New ShopVac

2011-04-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our current Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner has been taking a beating lately, so I talked my husband into getting a ShopVac. I told him it has two purposes ... we can use it in the bird room and we can also take to the trailer to vacuum in the summer ... we are never happy with the small vacuums we get for the trailer. So he went for it. So, we tested it out on Saturday and it works like a charm.

New Toys

2011-04-11T16:06:00.001-07:00

The following are examples of toys I made this past weekend. Using a mixture of parts from Wings for Things (an Online Canadian Parrot Toy Store). In the dixie cups, I hid WW pieces of pasta.

Video - Lucy, What does daddy do?

2011-04-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

This is Lucy's response when you ask her what Daddy does :) She's quite proud of herself because Daddy's watching her.

Jessie Receives Brat of the Month Award

2011-04-04T05:44:00.001-07:00

Parrots are just like kids sometimes ... you love them like crazy, but you don't always like what they do. Yesterday, right after breakfast I removed their bowls with their fresh food and put the bowl with pellets in. Within minutes I could hear Jessie rattling his bowl around and here's a picture of the end result. When I came up to assess the damage ... of course he laughed at me.

So out came the cage clips again. The mess I can handle ... the 2 bowls of fresh pellet food he wasted yesterday ... not so happy about that. He tried to do this again this morning, but I fixed his little red wagon.

And here he is looking at the mess he made.

Quality Kylie Time

2011-03-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Last night, Kylie was out with me while I was watching a movie. Most nights she's content on her cage or the jungle gym. Last night she started flying over to me and kept landing on my head. After she did that a couple of times, I let her climb onto my shoulder and she hung out there for about half an hour while I watched a movie and was on the computer. My relationship with Kylie is really taking off now. Here's a few pictures I snapped last night .... I didn't get any when she was on me because no one else was home and I didn't want to spoil the moment by going to get the camera.

Jessie Being Cute!

2011-03-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Jessie was being my brave little dude this afternoon and was hanging out on the jungle gym ... he usually afraid of it.

Haven't figured out how to embed a youtube video yet, but here is a link to a short video of Jessie. You can hear Lucy in the background saying 'Jessie, Jessie, Jessie' at 0:04 seconds and you can faintly hear Jessie saying 'Peeka' ... missing the boo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy3NlL7vBd4

Jessie enjoying scratches from mommy ....

with his eyes closed, you can tell he's really enjoying it

Jessie just being cute!

Random Pictures

2011-03-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Kylie and Jessie enjoying a Papaya Veggie Crisp treat from Avian Organics

A wet Lucy

Lucy posing for the camera

How to Dye Wood

2011-03-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today was wood dying day. Here's a list of supplies that we used:
- 18ft of 1 x 2 pine ($12.00)
- 6 x 28ml bottles of food coloring (2 red, 2 blue, 2 greed) ($10.00)
- 3 plastic buckets ($3.00)
- 1 Mitre Saw
- 1 Drill
- 1 Handy Husband :)
- 1 plastic table cloth
- Newspaper
- Wire baking racks
- Paper towels
- Rubber gloves

1. My husband set up the mitre saw. The wood clamped on the left side of the picture was the guide to make sure that every piece cut was 1 1/2" wide

2. Here's the bucket of wood

3. I wasn't here while he was drilling holes in the wood, but here is a picture of the drilled wood and I had him drill holes in some popsicle sticks as well while he was at it.

4. Here's the bucket of green dye. I mixed 4 cups of boiling water with 2 bottles of green food coloring. I was happier with the color and how it turned out.

5. Here's the bucket of red dye. I mixed 5 cups of boiling water with 2 bottles of red food coloring. This was the first color I mixed and also the weakest because I added so much water.

6. I mixed 3 cups of boiling water with 2 bottles of blue food coloring. With adding less water, the blue came out stronger than the red and green.

7. Here's a picture of all the wood pieces and popsicle sticks colored.

125 Wood Pieces

40 Popsicle Sticks

Total Duration: 2 hours to cut wood / drill holes; 2 hours to dye all the wood.

Lessons Learned: I didn't really anticipate that the wood would float .... yeah I know, blond moment ;) So for the next time I will need to find something to hold the wood down into the water. I think I'll try to find 1/2" thick wood the next time so the pieces are a little thinner.

Getting Prepared to Cut/Dye Wood

2011-03-12T08:21:00.001-08:00

So with my husband being a carpenter and having all the tools, I'm on a mission to cut and dye wood this weekend. I'm getting my supplies together. I got 3 kids easter buckets for $1 each at Walmart today, got the food coloring and picked up 18ft of untreated pine.

My husband is going to cut the pieces and drill the holes tomorrow morning and I'll be on wood dying duty tomorrow afternoon. Watch for further posts with updates throughout the process.

Lucy Playing in Blankets

2011-02-28T16:44:00.001-08:00

For the first time in months, Lucy wasn't obsessed withn going to see Kylie. Here are some pictures of Lucy playing peekaboo in blankets.

And here, Lucy was looking to see what was behind the table

Kylie / Jessie

2011-02-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

Kylie playing with her ball that matches her ... it was a funny game to keep throwing it on the floor and watch mommy run to get it :)

When I got tired of playing catch, she moved onto chewing

This was actually a first for me. Kylie and Jessie were out of their cages at the same time for almost half an hour this afternoon. They just did their own thing and played with their toys on top of their cages. They were good birdies!
This is Jessie trying to get away from a new toy I put on top of his cage. He's a typical phobic Senegal and is afraid of new things.

Video of Jessie Dancing / Kylie getting scratches / Pretty Lucy

2011-02-19T17:09:00.001-08:00

I got to spend lots of times with the birds today. Here's a picture of my pretty girl Lucy.

Here's a picture of Kylie enjoying scratches
And here's a video of Jessie dancing with mommy tonight. He couldn't be any cuter!

http://www.youtube.com/user/lzver#p/u/0/pHrOdkTdCtI

I got a new steamer!

2011-02-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

Even though I told my husband it was for us humans and the birds ... I think he knows deep down that I wouldn't be getting it if we didn't have the birds :)

Now I'm off to go read the manual and then cook some sweet potatoes, broccoli and green beans for the birdies :)

Lucy saying her name

2011-02-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Not sure how to embed a youtube video yet, but here is a short video of Lucy saying her name. I'm on a mission to catch her talking on camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meG3GolQ1PU

Lucy on a Mission ...

2011-01-25T17:33:00.001-08:00

... to go visit Kylie

Finally made it! They were both good birds so I let Lucy stay for a few minutes.

Then Kylie was rewarded with her own time out and a piece of wood to chew on. It took her about 10 minutes to destroy and I had quite the mess to vacuum up afterwards. But a busy beak is a happy bird!

Lucy Enjoying Cupid Cookies

2011-01-13T18:11:00.001-08:00

Lucy enjoying Avian Organics Cupid Cookies and a few other pictures from tonight

Avian Organics - Bird Bannock Bread

2011-01-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

Finally had some time to bake the Bird Bannock Break from Avian Organics yesterday morning. I haven't gotten pictures of them eating it yet because we've had lots of company over the past 2 days, but there's lots to go around so I'll get pictures within the next couple days.

Kylie and Jessie's Turn

2010-12-30T09:56:00.001-08:00

Here's a couple with Kylie and Jessie.

Kylie enjoying an almond
Jessie enjoying an almond

Very Happy With My New Camera!

2010-12-29T17:03:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures I took of Lucy tonight. Now that I'm learning how to use the camera and learning a little about photography my pictures are coming out better. I got some great close ups tonight.

New Camera = More Bird Pictures

2010-12-27T13:13:00.001-08:00

I only asked for one thing for Christmas this year and that was a new camera. I was getting really annoyed with the 5-year old point and shoot camera we had. After dropping hints for months it paid off and I got a new Fujifilm Finepix F80 EXR. As much as I would love a DSLR camera that was a little out of the budget range so I'm very happy with this camera. It can act as a simple point and shoot camera but it also has a manual mode where you can set everything yourself. That is my challenge in the new year is to learn more about photography and make as much use of this camera as possible. Oh and I also got a tripod as well.

So while the birds had time out of their cages this afternoon I was busy snapping pictures. I'm playing around with the various settings on the camera, but so far I'm pleased with the pictures. You guys be the judge.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T05:51:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, no pictures today. But I did want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year from me, Lucy, Jessie and Kylie. I look forward to a new year and getting to know Kylie even better and continuing to enjoy their companionship.

Avian Organics Order

2010-12-15T17:37:00.001-08:00

I've been unable to resist so many posts I see on various message boards and finally broke down and ordered from Avian Organics. I just started with a small order to see how the birds like everything. So far, they've gotten the Cupid Cookies and all three birds savor every little crumb. It's a hit! Here's a picture of what I got.

I'll have some time over the holidays and will definitely be doing some birdie baking ... I haven't even taken the time for Christmas baking yet, so my husband is giving me a bit of a hard time, but its all about keeping the birdies happy! Look for updates over the holidays. And I'll get some pictures of the birds enjoying some of the goods too.

Kylie Likes Me!

2010-12-13T06:32:00.000-08:00

I'm working from home today and had Kylie out while I was doing some work on my laptop and guess what .... she regurgitated for me. Awww ... I love you to tweetie :) Of course its not a good idea to encourage this behavior, so I backed off when she did it. But for the hour that she was out she did it every time I went over to her and gave her scratches. We're also making progress with step-ups as well. When she first came home with us, she was understandably nervous and for quite some time wouldn't step up reliably. Over the past few days, I definitely see a noticeable improvement.

It has been almost 2 months since she joined our flock and she clearly likes me over anyone else in the house ... she is still a little skittish around my husband and step-son.

I've updated with pictures. I had Kylie out again this afternoon and snapped a couple pictures.

Now that we are really starting to get to know each other she truly is a little sweetheart. She has the sweetest little demeanor and is always so happy to see her mommy! Its unbelievable how much Lucy, Jessie and Kylie bring to my life. I can't imagine life without them now.

Toy Factory - The Sequel

2010-12-11T13:20:00.001-08:00

Before I started making toys, Lucy had playtime on the gym. Here are the pictures showing how she makes her way over to Kylie's cage. Out of cage time consists of Lucy making her way over to Kylie's cage at least a dozen times. I always put her back on top of her cage and she eventually makes her way back over to see Kylie. Lucy's fascination with Kylie has not weaned at all.

Finally got there. I cover the side of Kylie's cage because Kylie has gone after Lucy a few times. I'm always more cautious than I need to be.

Then it was toy making time. Jessie joined me on the floor and hung out on the toy box with me.

Jessie got his beak on a spare toy part and was having a good time chewing.

Looking around the toy box for anything interesting.

First 2 toys.

3rd toy

I made a few more and had Kylie on the toy box with me ... but the batteries ran out on my camera and I'm all out. Kylie was so cute that I regret not being able to get pictures of her. Oh well ... there's always next time.

Toy Factory

2010-12-04T13:00:00.001-08:00

It looked like a toy factory earlier this afternoon. I made some new toys for my babies today.

Lucy's toy

Kylie's Toy
Kylie didn't waste any time

Jessie's toy ... hopefully he won't be afraid of this one for a few days.

Kylie - Just Because

2010-12-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm really getting frustrated with my 5 year old point and shoot camera, so I don't take pictures every time the birds are out. Christmas is coming up and I've dropped a million hints that I want a new one ... hopefully Santa comes through for me ;o)

Anyways, here are a few pictures of Kylie when she was out on Thursday night.

She's a silly little girl ... she was lightly tapping her beak against the wall in this picture.

Things for Wings Order

2010-11-29T17:01:00.001-08:00

Here's a picture of the order I just received from Things for Wings. There are going to be some busy beaks around here for the next little while :)

Kylie Time!

2010-11-22T17:35:00.001-08:00

Tonight was Kylie's night! I've felt guilty over the past few days because I've been fighting a cold and I usually keep a distance from the birds when I'm sick. I'm probably being like an over protective parront, but I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. Anyways, I'm feeling back to normal today, so I spent some time with Kylie tonight. She wasn't really interested in hanging on the jungle gym tonight. It was all about getting as many scratches as possible tonight. Here are a few pics taken inbetween the scratch sessions.

And the good news is ... she stepped up for me when it was time to go back in her cage. I still got a little nip, but its progress. Usually she flies away from me. I will be doing some behavioral work with Cory, the girl I adopted Kylie from, and we're going to try and focus on getting a more reliable step up. I'm looking forward to working with Kylie and in the process hopefully build a stronger bond and relationship with her.

Personalities

2010-11-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

My birds fascinate me every day. I love nothing better than spending the day with them and interacting with them and watching them. For those of you that own more than one bird (or any kind of animal really) you all know that they have different personalities. Today while I was preparing lunch for the birds, I wanted to share some of their cute little personality querks.

Today's lunch. A mix of red and green peppers, cucumber and apple.

I am still getting to know Kylie's likes and dislikes, but I do know from her previous owner that she was fed a fresh organic diet. So I don't need to worry when I offer fresh food to Kylie. She never hesitates and digs right in. After I gave her lunch today I just watched her. She went over to the bowl right away and started moving pieces of food around ... checking things out. This is a picture of her picking an apple as the first thing to eat ... and she ate it over her bowl.

Then a few minutes later, she picked up a piece of red pepper and took it a perch close to her bowl. She mixes things up ... she eats over her bowl and sometimes she takes food elsewhere in her cage to eat.
Lucy is my funniest little eater. I don't think I'll ever have a weight issue with her :) She goes down to her bowl, gets a piece of food and then climbs up to the highest perch to eat. It takes her twice as long to eat as Jessie.

Then there is Jessie. He always eats right over his bowl and shreds everything. When he's done, there is only shredded food left in his bowl.

Over the next little while, I'll try to share some of there cute little personality querks, because there are many of them.

Some Lucy and Jessie Time

2010-11-09T17:55:00.001-08:00

The past couple weeks have been all about Kylie, rightfully so, but tonight was all about spending time with Lucy and Jessie. Lucy is obsessed with Kylie! She is so curious that as soon as she gets out of her cage, she makes her way over to see Kylie. At least she spends some time on the jungle gym before going onto her cage.

Lucy on a mission .... she's getting closer.And closer.

I unfortunately stopped taking pictures by the time she climbed onto Kylie's cage. I let them go for a few seconds, but got Lucy to step up before they could get too close.

Then it was Jessie's turn. He actually posed for some pictures tonight. Usually he just tries to attack the camera.

My little monkey being a cutie :)

Kylie's First Night in the Bird Room

2010-11-04T04:41:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, Kylie got a clean bill of health and I don't think she was doing very well being by herself in my bedroom, so I weighed the risks and decided to move her down into the bird room (dining room) last night. She didn't seem nervous at all after the move, so I decided to let her out of her cage for a little while last night.

As you can see she wasted no time flying over to the jungle gym. She was used to being out on toys like this with her previous owner, so she didn't hesitate to fly over there by herself. Lucy is just now starting to fly over by herself and I still have to take Jessie over to it myself, but I'm coming to the realization that he much prefers using me as a jungle gym :)

Fitting right in

So .... I haven't mentioned how Lucy and Jessie reacted to moving Kylie into the dining room. Jessie was curious for a few mintues, but quickly lost interest. And this is exactly what I expected to happen. I'm his one person and I don't think he'll ever really be interested in another bird. Lucy on the other hand was very curious and when I let Kylie out of her cage I thought Lucy was going to crawl out of her feathers she was so excited and curious. So, I got over my fear and let Lucy out of her cage. I took this picture more for my husband's benefit because he wouldn't believe me if I just told him. Lucy was only out for a few minutes before I put her back in her cage. They did get a lot closer than this and were both reaching out to each other so I decided to end it more out of my own fear. I knew their body language wasn't aggressive at all, but I didn't want to take any chances. There is lots of time for Kylie and Lucy to spend together. Hopefully down the road once they get used to each other Kylie and Lucy will be friends and spend lots of time together on the jungle gym.

Oh yeah and let me mention that Kylie is an amazing flyer! It was a little tricky getting her back into her cage last night because she kept flying away from me. It was amazing to watch her fly though. Compared to Lucy and Jessie, she is a seasoned flyer.

Kylie on the move to the bird room

2010-11-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

Got Kylie's blood work results back late yesterday and it confirmed that she's in great health! Not that I'm surprised at all. Kylie's previous owner obviously knows what she's doing and takes great care of her birds!

So, I've made the decision to move her downstairs with the other birds tonight. Since I've been home this week, I can clearly see she's not happy stuck in my bedroom by herself. I think she'll do much better having Lucy and Jessie as company. Hopefully I'll have pictures within a few days!

Clean Bill of Health!

2010-10-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

No pictures today, but wanted to report that Kylie had a good visit with our local Avian vet today. She was such a good girl while being examined and the vet says she's in excellent health! Feathers are in great condition, perfect weight, etc. Just waiting for the results from the CBC Blood work - should find out the results this week, but the vet isn't concerned. The vet said she's a healthy and very pretty little girl :)

I'm doing a virtual course from home this week, so I'll be around a little bit more. But considering cutting the quarantine a little short and introducing Kylie to the bird room next weekend. It has been challenging spending enough time with her and spending time with Lucy and Jessie and I think Kylie will benefit being around Lucy and Jessie.

Hanging out with Kylie

2010-10-27T17:43:00.001-07:00

Excuse the poor quality of the first 2 pictures. Kylie was a little hesitant to first come out of her cage tonight and I just grabbed by cell phone and snapped a few pictures.

Thinking a little more ....
After a few minutes she came out and flew over to see me on the love seat in the bedroom. I don't want to force her to things she's uncomfortable with, so I'm just letting her do her own thing. Here is a cute picture.

Here is another cute picture of her hanging out on the love seat with me.

She was out with me for about 20 minutes and was a very good girl and stepped up for me when I offered my finger. She's enjoying an almond in her cage right now for being such a good girl.

Welcome Home Kylie!

2010-10-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

This is the first entry officially welcoming Kylie to our flock! We picked her up this morning and had an uneventful drive home. I sat beside her and she was very good all the way home. She moved closer to me and even let me give her scratches.

I took this picture right after we got home. She definitely looks a little nervous.

A few minutes later she accepted her first treat

I kept her in the cage we brought her in for a little while, but now she is in her regular cage, which she is familiar with. I opened the cage door and let her come out when she was ready, which didn't take very long. Once she climbed out, she hung out on top for a few minutes. She let me give her head scratches and took a treat from me. Then it was the moment of truth ... to see if she would step up for me. I know from previous visits with Kylie not to force her. So I offered my finger a couple inches away from her and I was so happy when she stepped up for me almost right away. From there I put her in her cage and I did get a little bite before she stepped onto one of her perches, but that's to be expected. I'm so thrilled so far!

Kylie looking around in her cage

Another picture of Kylie in her cage

Kylie eating! Within a few minutes of going into her cage, you could tell that she felt more comfortable because it was familiar and started eating on her own. I'll keep a close eye on how much she eats (and poops) over the next couple of days.

Welcome Home Kylie!

Right now, Kylie is in quarantine in my bedroom on the 2nd floor. But Lucy and Jessie definitely know something is up. Kylie has made a few peeps and sqweaks so far and my husband said Jessie was looking up the stairs, so they can definitely hear her.

Part Senegal / Part Bat

2010-10-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

Took a few pictures of Jessie tonight while he was on the jungle gym. This is a common way for him to literally 'hang' out. Sometimes I swear he's part bat :)

Nightly Cuddle Time!

2010-09-22T17:31:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken during my nightly cuddle time with Jessie tonight. Tonight when I wanted him to step up, he leaned backwards and wanted to lay on his back in my hand

New Addition to Jungle Gym!

2010-09-14T08:19:00.001-07:00

Added a new addition to the jungle gym on the weekend. Here's Lucy posing on the new toy!

After checking out the new toy ... Lucy explores

Lucy's favorite spot .... she just spent 30 minutes hanging out on this one orb this morning

More Jungle Gym Pictures

2010-09-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

Lucy and Jessie are becoming increasingly more comfortable on the jungle gym. They both spent quite of bit time out this afternoon while I was working from home. I could sit on the couch with my laptop and keep an eye on them ... of course I couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Lucy is not afraid of heights ... she tends to head straight for the highest point when she's out
Enjoying an almond

I think this was her first time on this orb

Lucy doing what she does best .... chew! If you look closely, you can see a piece of wood lying under her beak

Jessie chewing on a wood block

Lucy Loves the Jungle Gym Too!

2010-09-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Natacha, I got a picture of Lucy on her Tippy Toes too!

Jessie cautiously checking out the net

Jessie Loves the Jungle Gym!

2010-09-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

The first picture is my favorite! I got a few pictures off with my camera before the batteries died. If I had more batteries (I need to stock up on more batteries) I could have gotten a video of Jessie hanging upside down swinging back and forth in this picture .... this is a classic Jessie picture and captures how he spends a lot of his time.

Exploring the net

The rest of these were taken with my cell phone camera

This is as close as Lucy got this morning. She's curious but not sure about it yet. She did attempt to fly from the top of her cage this morning to one of the orbs (not in this picture), but she got scared and flew back to her cage. Before too long, she'll be playing on it.

Jessie Checking Out New Play Area

2010-08-26T06:22:00.000-07:00

This was a very good sign this morning. I had Jessie out on the playstand, which is just under the new play area, and he didn't fly away right away. He hung out for a few minutes and checked everything out. After a couple minutes he'd decided he'd had enough and flew away. He did better than Lucy did last night ... I couldn't even get her to step down onto the playstand before she flew away.

Lucy & Jessie's New Play Area

2010-08-25T11:57:00.001-07:00

With being on holiday's this week, we finished buying the toys, nets, flooring, etc to start the birds play area and to put it all up. My husband started by securing a plastic chain link from the corner of the room to the other wall and then hung the net and secured it to the wall. The boing is hanging from a hook on the ceiling. It will evolve over time, but I think it's a great start anyways ... as they say ... Rome wasn't built in a day.

You can't see it in this picture, but we put down flooring in the room as well. We finally decided on vinyl flooring. We went to a local flooring store and got a good deal on a end of the roll piece and it even matches the decor. We haven't secured it down using tape or glue due to the hardwood flooring ... we want to protect that as best as possible. We may decide to get some two-sided tape to secure the exposed edge, but with the cages and table there the flooring isn't going anywhere. At the end of the day it will be easy to clean and protect the hardwood flooring. We spent a bit more than I wanted to, but it will last a lot longer than some of the other options we were looking at.

I already had Lucy out but even she's scared of everything. She just kept flying around the main floor and kept landing on Jessie's cage ... which he DOES NOT LIKE! It will take some time to desensitize them so they are not afraid of it. With some work I may have Lucy climbing around within a week or so ... but it may take a month or more to get Jessie more comfortable with everything. It is all worth it though because they will be able to enjoy it for years to come!

My Visit with Kylie!

2010-08-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, Cory was kind enough to let me come over and spend a few hours with Kylie. I'm trying not to take it too fast with her and force her to do anything. I didn't try any step-ups at yesterday, but she let me give her head scratches 3 times yesterday and we practiced waving hi all afternoon. All in all it was a great visit and I can't wait to bring her home in October! I will visit several more times before I bring her home. I feel very fortunate to have found Cory and Kylie because I couldn't ask for a better situation for an adoption. Anyways, here are just a few of the pictures I took yesterday.

Lucy & Jessie at the Trailer

2010-08-15T11:10:00.001-07:00

It was one of those perfect weekends for Lucy and Jessie at the trailer - it was a very warm weekend. They were outside on the deck from 8:00AM to 9:00PM last night ... with the exception of going out to get groceries for an hour or so. Just wanted to post a few pics of Lucy and Jessie enjoying their time outside on our deck at the trailer.

Lucy at the trailer

Lucy enjoying a carrot

Jessie at the trailer ... you can't tell, but he just finished giving himself a bath in his water and his head was all wet.

Jessie enjoying a carrot

Jessie, My Little Monkey

2010-08-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

I had some work to catch up on when I got home tonight, but I had both birds out at the same time tonight - which is a first for me. Jessie was on the playstand in front of my on the floor and Lucy was more than happy to hang out on Jessie's cage - I guess its more interesting than her own cage ;o) Lucy really seems to be spreading her wings these days and takes so much joy in flying around the main floor. This afternoon, Lucy flew over to see me twice on the couch while Jessie was on the playstand. Neither Lucy or Jessie really showed any interest in each other, so maybe they truly will be able to get along on neutral territory.

Anyways, I was half working / half keeping my eye on the birds and as I watched I could tell that Jessie is definitely getting over his fear of the play stand.

Here Jessie is playing with a Java Wood toy

Another picture of Jessie chewing on the Java Wood Toy

Now this is when I could really tell that Jessie was getting over his fear. I caught Jessie part way through doing one of his flips around a perch - he does this in his cage ALL THE TIME!

And here he is half way through one of his flips and just starting to pull himself back up. I so wish I was videotaping this because after he finished he said 'It's a good boy Jessie' and started laughing. LOL

Foraging!

2010-08-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

Experimenting with foraging. Wrapped pieces of wood, cashews and almonds in colored paper. Came home today and they were all chewed up and on the bottom of their cages.

Sprouted Beans!

2010-08-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Kind of hard to see with the picture resized, but Lucy and Jessie are having sprouted beans for dinner the next couple of nights! I gave them a little treat tonight and they ate it all up!

Playtime - August 8, 2010

2010-08-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Jessie finally showing some interest in the foot toys

Lucy finally showing some interest in the foot toys

Just posting, because Lucy's so pretty in this picture :)

Jessie - August 4, 2010

2010-08-04T17:15:00.001-07:00

Jessie, my little phobic Senegal, is starting to make progress with the playstand. After cuddle time with mommy tonight, he willfully stepped up onto the playstand perch he is on in the picture. He's not at the point where he's comfortable enough to start climbing around, but he was showing interest in some of the little foot toys I have on the playstand. It came to end quickly when I tried to put another toy on the perch and that scared him off. He went for a fly around the room and didn't make the most graceful landing on the floor.

Introducing Kylie!

2010-08-03T16:50:00.001-07:00

The last couple weeks have been very exciting! I would like to officially introduce everyone to the newest little member of our family. We are adopting a 2-year old female Meyers Parrot named Kylie from a reputable Aviary (CEC Exotics Aviary - http://www.cecavianservices.com/index.html) located in Toronto.

Cory, Kylie's current owner has quite a few larger parrots (Amazon's, Cockatoo's, Caiques, etc) and feels that Kylie would benefit from being in a home with parrots the same size as her and in a home where she could get more one on one time and time out of the cage. Due to Kylie being quite a bit smaller than a lot of Cory's birds, Kylie only gets time out on her own when the other birds aren't out. Kylie is a sweet little bird who Cory has trained to do flight recalls, waves, turnarounds, etc. I have a lot of respect for Cory by recognizing that her home may not be the best environment for Kylie. I cannot imagine how difficult a decision it is, but she truly wants what is best for all her birds.

Kylie was first brought to my attention by another member on this board in the beginning of June. I didn't contact Cory right away and spent several weeks visiting Cory's website and considering the possibility of re-homing a parrot. I contacted Cory in late June/early July and over the past month we have exchanged numerous emails, spoken on the phone and met in person. Last weekend my husband and I met Cory and Kylie for the first time. I didn't push myself on Kylie too much during that visit. She did step up for me and she got lots of treats :) I did try to get her to step up a second time and not knowing Kylie yet, I think I put my hand too close and she felt like she was being forced into stepping up as opposed to being given a choice, so she did give me a pretty good bite. I assured Cory that wasn't going to discourage me at all.

Kylie will be staying with Cory until approximately mid-October. As many of you may know, we have a trailer that we go to every weekend in the summer and Lucy and Jessie come with us. Being at the trailer does not allow me the space to properly quarantine Kylie, so in the very beginning I told Cory about my concern and she was more than happy to hold Kylie for us. Keeping Lucy and Jessie in good health is important to me and I will do what I can to minimize the risk to them. I will be visiting Kylie several times before she comes home with us. The next time I visit Kylie, Cory will have me doing some training sessions with Kylie in an effort to get to know her better and hopefully start building a bond with her. Cory will also be coming to Guelph to meet Lucy and Jessie and see where she will be living before she comes home.

I've attached a picture of Kylie for everyone to see.

Tonight's Dinner and Dessert

2010-07-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

It's not time consuming to make a healthy fresh meal for your birds. The picture below is Lucy and Jessie's dinner (meals for tomorrow too). I chopped up fresh carrots, green beans, green peppers, red peppers and zuchinni and threw it all into the food processor. After a few minutes you have a healthy feast for your birds. I find there is less waste because the pieces are smaller and bite size.

Then for dessert, I made homemade nutriberries. The recipe is courtesy of Cory at My Avian Lifestyle Blog - http://www.myavianlifestyle.com/ . She suggests using organic pitted dates and figs, but I couldn't find organic figs, so I went with organic pitted apricots instead. For the nuts I used raw almonds, raw cashews and ran hulled sunflower seeds. Mixed them all up in the food processor and rolled them into balls. Next time, I will roll them into smaller balls, because when I fed to Lucy and Jessie I had to cut them in quarters to make them more manageable for them to handle.

Trip to Exotic Wings & Things

2010-07-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

Made a trip to Exotic Wings & Things in St. Clements Ontario today (just north of Kitchener / Waterloo). I always love looking at the birds, but I'm not a huge fan of how they house their birds there, but I'm going to stay off that podium today.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we are turning our dining room into the new bird room. There will be a play area hanging in the middle of the room that Lucy and Jessie can fly to and play while they are out. I was hoping they would have a climbing net there today, but no such luck. So instead I got a boing, atom, 2 new toys and some foot toys today. Here's a picture of everything I got today.

Now I just need some of my husband's time to start hanging things in the room. He's busy doing private reno jobs for friends and family this weekend. Maybe if I'm really nice and make him a big nice dinner on Monday when we get home he'll do it for me :)

Clicker Training - Finally Making Progress!

2010-07-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

I started experimenting with Clicker training both Lucy and Jessie about 2 months ago and wasn't having much luck in the beginning. At first, Lucy didn't really seem interested in training. I haven't found a treat that she loves enough to work for yet. Whenever I brought her out to do clicker training, she was more interested in just hanging out to do her own thing. Well tonight, I went back to basics with her and got her to consistently target to a stick. She wouldn't take any treats. It seems like the attention and praise is enough for her.

With Jessie, I don't have a problem getting his attention at all and he'll take just about anything for a treat ... so finding motivation wasn't struggle. The struggle I've had with him is he is a very typical Senegal parrot and he is very phobic of anything new. I tried for weeks to desensitize him to a stick so we could start targeting and time after time he would become phobic and start biting. Not easy to clicker train with a phobic bird showing aggression. Again, I took a few steps back tonight and started by simply showing him the stick. For the first few minutes he would just puff up, which is his sign that he's not happy. After showing it to him a few times he didn't react, so I clicked and rewarded him with a treat. After we had success with that, I started moving it closer. When he didn't react, I clicked and he got a treat. After about 10 minutes, I had him touching the stick without showing fear or aggression.

Sometimes we want something to work that we try to push our feathered friends too far too fast. I'm happy with tonight's progress. I'm home with the birds all day tomorrow by myself, so I'll be sure to do several more training sessions with them tomorrow. Hopefully this is the beginning of something fun for all three of us :)

Time to put Lucy and Jessie to bed. They're both grinding their beaks and making their 'night night' noises.

Playtime!

2010-07-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Lucy being nosy and trying to look under the table

Lucy on the playstand

Lucy very curious about the parrot picture on the wall

Jessie hanging out on top of his cage

Another picture of Jessie hanging out on top of his cage

New Bird Area

2010-07-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

We got Lucy and Jessie moved over to the new bird room tonight. It's no where near complete yet. We are getting a second hand carpet from someone this weekend, so we'll be reorganizing once the carpet is in. Lucy's a little quiet and looking around ... Jessie isn't even phased and he's swinging upside down right now in his cage.

This area will enable me to let them spend A LOT more time outside of their cages. I can keep an eye on them from the living room while they spend some time hanging out doing their own thing. For now the table can stay between them and the playstand can stay on there. I'm washing an old table cloth that can cover the cage and I'm not so worried if they poop while they are out.

Eventually, we'd like to hang a net in the middle of the room and maybe even have something going from the table to a play area in the middle. Stay tuned while the new bird room evolves.

New bird area

New Playstand my husband built

Jessie's cage

Lucy's cage

Lucy on Playstand today

2010-07-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Lucy on our playstand today

Jessie on Playstand today

2010-07-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken of Jessie today while he was playing on our playstand