Zuri and the boing

I really like the lighting on these pictures.

Content

She managed to elude the Boy's attempt to getting her to step up by perching at one of the highest point on the gym in the bird room, and was very proud of herself. She was thinking it was time to go back in her cage, when, in reality, we wanted her to go in the adjacent room (orange room). I opened the door and she quickly got what was going on and then promptly stepped up.

The return of Batbird

Piper

Had some cute pictures to share!

June's "Cooking for the birds"

This year I am trying to take advantage of the local Farmers' markets in a more regular fashion than I did in previous years.

So far, since they officially begun 3 weeks ago in my area, we've been every single Saturday.

Last week, we got a lot of stuff, and given the week-end was grey and rainy, I proceeded to make a big batch of food for the birds; it had been a while since I last did so.



What is pictured above is most of what went in as veggies (and most of them are organic, except the carrots), although there were a few additional ingredients that I sadly had to purchase at the store.

Ingredients:
-Rainbow chard (pictured)
-Purple kale (pictured)
-Black kale (pictured)
-Carrots (pictured)
-Turnips (pictured)
-Beets (pictured)
-Sweet potato
-Peas (from frozen)
-Quinoa
-Chick peas
-Adzuki beans
-Mung beans

All the veggies were cooked using the steamers. On top of the listed greens, I also used the green tops from the turnips and the beet roots.

I had originally wanted to also add some barley and some lentils, but the container got full so they'll be used another time.



This is what the food looked like, once all chopped, steamed/cooked and mixed up. So far it's been a huge success with the birds, including Petey who's been a picky eater lately. All in all, once the food was portioned, we ended up with 5 weeks worth of food! I might make more batches sooner than later, using whatever I'll find in season; it's nice to be able to select vegetables that were picked either earlier that day or the day before and use them right away!

Beautiful Léa

Aren't I just overflowing with originality when it comes to blog titles today...

Beautiful Pixel

Just a picture I like

When I first saw this picture, I knew I wanted to post it, but I never quite knew what to name it.
Got tired to thinking about it and figured I'd just post it already!

Some say he looks like a pear...

...or at least that he can be "pear shaped".

I guess I can kinda see what they mean when I look at this picture of him.

Will preen anywhere

Within a span of 5 minutes he changed location and kept preening.

Coming up

Went to the Farmers' market yesterday and this is what we brought back.

Given the week-end forecast announced two dull and grey days ahead, I figured it was time to once again make a big batch of food for the birds and freeze it off in smaller portions. Yesterday I tackled the chopping and steaming of the vegetables; most of what is pictured above was used, with the exception of all allium (green garlic, garlic scapes and young onions) and some other items that will be shared between humans and birds.

Today I'll tackle the beans and grains.

Stay tuned for a longer post with more details about what went in the batch of food later this week.

Zuri

Haven't had a post with just a picture of Zuri in a while.

Pixel looking curious

Something's got her attention!

Silly Shade

Mid-walk pose -



Looking silly. I love this picture!

Léa posing on the Java tree

Léa came downstairs to the main floor of the house yesterday, when I was preparing salad for our dinner.

She remained nicely on the Java tree and I took a few pictures.





I might have a few close-up shots to post later on. But I think it's been a while since I posted pictures of Léa where she didn't fill most of the frame.

Petey

A few pictures of him, and only him, as it doesn't happen often on the blog.

Focused II

Shade showing that she will not be outdone by any other bird when it comes time to pin her eyes and focus on something.

While I have a vague idea what Joey was focusing on, I have no real idea what triggered Shade to go in focusing mode this time around.

Focused

Joey showing off some of that crazed Red-bellied look. He was focusing on something outside that had spooked him a few minutes prior to me taking the picture.

Skewer re-filling day

Yesterday I spent a little time re-filling some of the skewer toys that had been mostly depleted over the past week.

"Before"



"After"



For the most part, the smaller guys have a harder time chewing the harder beads that I use to separate the other wooden pieces when they are strung up directly on a skekwer, as they can't really get a good hold on them to figure out the best breaking spot, as when they are provided as foot toys. So I know that when the skewers are down to mainly only wooden beads, it's time to spruce them up a little, otherwise the birds lose interest in them.

The pine slats I cut last November and I still have a little stash left, although I might have to consider cutting more in the next few weeks. These make for such an easy toy to put together, and fairly cheap, and are loved by the birds. They also get put together in no time!

Long lost Crystal's Bird Toys order

Not lost getting to me, but rather lost by me..

I always try to take pictures of bird-related orders for the blog, and this was no exception. I kept the toys aside, with every intention of taking pictures of them sooner rather than later but I eventually forgot about them. If I remember right, I probably got these last March...

In any case, better late than never!

The order was for foot toys - lots and lots of foot toys (as there was a sale at the time).



And shortly after I received this order, I believe we had a Parrot Club meeting where I picked up these two toys - base made of balsa, lots of wooden beads and cork, it seemed like something most of the flock would enjoy!

May Instagram Pictures

I meant to post these last month but time got away from me!

Shade


Joey


Petey


Léa


Piper


Zuri


Pixel

Not quite parrots...

I generally try to keep the blog about parrots and parrot-related things, but when I uploaded the pictures from my phone onto the computer, I stumbled upon this one and since generally parrot-lovers love birds in general, I thought I would share here.

I took this a few weeks ago, when I was on my way from work to the bus stop. I'm guessing the people responsible for the building to which the planter was associated actually put a perimeter around the planter so people wouldn't get too close and of course, there was mama duck who was circling the planter quacking loudly. I think they had called the proper authorities to move the duck family and possibly put the babies in the planter to keep them out of the busy and dangerous downtown streets.

Someone enjoyed her breakfast

And she looks quite happy!



This was actually from two weeks ago I think? But I just uploaded some pictures from my phone onto my desktop - be prepared for a few more Instagram pictures to come!

Happy "Gotcha day" Pixel!

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of Pixel joining the flock.

While I'm normally "on top" of these things, and I had thought about it quickly this morning, it really didn't hit me until earlier this evening, while doing some parrot-related chores. And when I realized it was 3 years, I was surprised it had been that long.



Three years ago that I got scared on our way to the vet by her bright orange feces (thanks to all the dyes in her previous pelleted diet). Three years since she was a little unsure of us at first.

I can really do just about anything I want with her, however the Boy still needs to gain her trust fully. She's taken her place in the flock, and although I would like to her to not want to attack Shade as badly, things are still going fairly well on most days.

And it wouldn't be a post about Pixel if there wasn't a picture of her looking somewhat dainty (sorry, no yawn shot tonight!)

Recent perch order from Things for Wings

A few weeks ago I was looking at some perches over at Things for Wings - as always, it took me a few days to make up my mind, but given I really needed some rope perches, I had to put in an order. I was also toying with the idea of purchasing two flagstone perches, to replace the ones Zuri and Pixel currently have, as I find the ones they currently have a little on the small size.

It appears the few days I took to mull things over paid off, in a way, as Danita had assembled a few sets of perches to sell on Facebook as an ensemble, each one having a different number of perches and different kinds of perches. It turns out one of these sets did catch my eye.

Of course, I took a few pictures of the perches I received, although minus the rope perches, as it took me a few days to get around to taking the pictures and I had immediate use for those rope perches.

The two flagstone perches -





The set of perches I got from her Facebook sale -



From left to right, this set includes:
9" Chunky Willow
14" Sandblasted Manzanita
10" Cajeput
12" Cottonwood
One of her new "Load your own pickin perch", which is a stainless steel skewer with washers and a wing nut.

Finally, Danita is also currently having a sale on perches; buy 5 perches, get a 9" chunky willow perch free. The sale is not advertised on her website, but you can find information on how to proceed with a sale order on her Facebook page.