No pictures!

Very nearly tempted to have used it for the 365 picture, but for that I like to see the birds' faces. I still find this one hilarious.

212:365 - Out of cage time!

On our way to the orange room (as the Littles were in their cages and I don't like having a bird lose in a room where others are caged).

It does seem like I phoned it in, but it was really a case where I wanted a quick picture because I wanted it out of the way. This remains an "unusual" picture, in the sense that I don't think I've posted any like this (on a hand) of Léa.

Also, I like how the orange on her cheeks show off a little more on this picture.

211:365 - Your shoulder...

I wants it!

July 2014 - "Cooking for the birds"

These posts haven't happened as often as I wanted over the summer, the last one dating from April. But it was just easier to prepare a meal every night than to set time aside to make a large batch of food, that is until I was on vacation.


Last week I finally got around to preparing all the veggies, beans and grains and here is what this new mix looks like:

The vegetables, pre-cutting -

The final mix -

Ingredients:
-Black kale (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Rainbow chard (pictured - from my garden)
-Beets (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Broccoli (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Carrots (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Beans (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Red bell pepper (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Organic quinoa
-Adzuki beans
-Mung beans
-Organic purple barley


There is one typical ingredient that is missing - chick peas! I had run out and went ahead without it...and apparently it might have not gone unnoticed, as Léa loves them and has initially been eying her food bowl in a weird way.

That is it! I hope to make another batch in August, or maybe early September and hope to have more goodies from my garden and the Farmers' market.

Close-up

Day 209 alternate

I had a hard time picking which picture to post for day 209 - the decision was ultimately the Boy's.

Tucked away

Talking about his toes, which you can hardly see in the picture.
I quite like it - Joey looks adorable and so angelic!

210:365 - My toy!

She's holding onto pieces while chewing a different one - no one is allowed to play with this toy if she is (and if she's out in that room, not with the toy and another bird tries to play with it...well she'll fly towards it).

209:365 - Upside down

Having some fun with a swing.

208:365 - Léa

What's down there?

Something grabbed his attention!

Hi!

207:365 - *raspberry!*

It isn't the sharpest picture, but it showcases his excitement over the star toy and, most importantly, when I took this picture he blew a raspberry, or at least made the noise.

206:365 - Sleepy Piper

So adorable!

Coral expansion

Even though she turned three earlier this year, Léa still hasn't got her full adult plumage in, and the amount of coral on her keeps expanding. It's more obvious on her head, although her wings are also getting more colourful as time passes.

With her head, a few coral creeper feathers show up further down on her head, before it eventually fills in. Here is what her head looked like at the beginning of the month (it just took me this long to finally getting around to posting this!)

Ready for a nap

 

He was also in the process of closing his eyes, but I liked this picture the best.

205:365 - Silly Petey

I'm not exactly sure what was going on here - the leg stretched towards the back remained that way for quite some time, and he had an intense glare going on.

204:365 - Shade

Shade, starting this new week for the 365 challenge, after having ended the previous one.

Playtime interrupted

Oh...she has that camera out!

Can not show that I have been playing!

There, dropped it!

Oh...so you'll hand it back to me...thank you...

What to do now?

Chirp!

Taken earlier this month, when he was ok with posing a little, instead of automatically flying back to me. I really like this picture.

Joey and the rebel feather

He had just been preening, and I believe the feather was lose and just about to fall. Still, he looked funny with the one feather out of place.

203:365 - Looking sweet

She truly is a sweet and gentle bird.

202:365 - Léa

I like this picture. Not sure what was going on, I think she was in a preening session and was moving from one thing to another.

201:365 - Petey

Being on vacation, I didn't feel the need to take many pictures at once for the week, and thought the day-by-day approach would work. This was taken on the day I had a pretty terrible migraine, and where I regretted not having taken all of the week's picture in one day. Petey also wasn't in a picture taking mood, so, once again, I only took a handful of pictures.

His belly looks a little rough, but he's been spending quite a bit of his time lately, either playing in the bottom of his cage or going on the ground in the orange room and try to dig his way under the Boy's leg (who sits on the ground when we are in there), so his belly rubs the carpet. We've tried to get him to do other things, but that is what he wants to do. Nesty Petey.

200:365 - Piper

Day 200! I'm a little sad I didn't get this picture up on Saturday, but it was taken late that day and I don't think I was in the mood of dealing with pictures much after it was taken. In fact, I hardly took any pictures, I think it was a case of both the subject and photographer wanting it done quickly (Piper kept flying to me).

A few days of silence...

...means a few posts to come, especially targeted for the 365 project.

The ironic thing is, I thought I would have more time to post while on vacation and be able to keep up to date. While I wasn't exactly lacking time, a number of factors have come into play and resulted in me not posting much. The birds are perfectly fine, but between a terrible migraine one day (and it seems the birds, and mostly the Meyer's, thought that would be a perfect day to be particularly screechy), being out of town on another and just an overall feeling of not wanting to be at the desktop all that much, I've fallen behind. So prepare for a few posts, one after the other, at least enough to bring up up to today's 365 picture.

The Nemo factor

Nemo is back! He'll be visiting with us for a week.

He arrived yesterday, and was the element that the Boy referred to as contributing to the other birds, especially Shade's atypical behaviour.

Therefore, the flock is temporarily set at eight birds, but he's one of the less demanding ones, being very content about sitting on my shoulder as long as he can. He has issues with other birds, therefore he gets his own time out of cage.

Below are a few pictures from yesterday.

199:365 - Wings up!

The Boy's pick for today's 365 picture.

Lovely Shade

I love this picture.

Quotes

Heard a few minutes ago:

"I sense a disturbance in the force."

~The Boy talking on behalf of Shade, trying to justify her atypical behaviour this morning, in light of something that will happen later today.

Jealous Lovebird

Piper was pretty terrible yesterday at making sure Shade didn't get anything he didn't get as well; funnily enough, he mostly has this attitude towards her and no one else. Maybe because she's the one bird he can follow closely to ensure he gets everything she gets without her fighting back.

Things he did yesterday:

• Although he was already on my left shoulder, when Shade came on the right one, that was the shoulder he had to be on;
• Shade then moved to the computer desk and although the desk had been free before, and her moving effectively freed up the coveted right shoulder, he also, at that moment, needed to be on the table.
• If Shade started to chew on a specific piece of wood, then he had to have that specific piece of wood, not one that was just like it and "free" to be chewed on.

These are only a few examples. He also got very pushy and slightly annoying. It's not like he doesn't get all the attention he wants (he is the one bird who truly gets the most one-on-one from me), but he doesn't want to share nicely at times. Nothing prevented him from getting his typical cuddle time, even if she was around.

198:365 - Playing the cute card

The Red bellies enjoying the basket of goodies

To which basket am I referring to?

The lovely basket we got as a draw prize during Avian Organic's anniversary sale back in April.

I'm fully aware that we are now in July and that it seems like it's been a while since April. Oddly enough, this wasn't an occasion where I was hoarding toys away, but rather it was kept in a box in the basement and I had more or less forgot about it after initially wondering how I was going to give it to the birds.

In the end, while looking for foot toys to provide on the computer desk in the orange room, I remembered the basket and it seemed to fit the requirements of what I was looking for.

It's been on the desk for a few days now, and while some of the birds are still unsure about it, the Red bellies, especially Joey, have sorted through it on a few occasions (and made a mess every time, throwing out what was less appealing at the time, while digging for preferred goodies).

Oh, it's been a while since I had a basket to chew!

Hmm...out this goes!

Oh I like these!

*crazy "I love these" eyes*

So much fun to tear apart!

What else is there to play with?

King of the pile!

Pixel mostly enjoyed a dried piece of corn cob and husk (minus the niblets) - can you see her reflection in both pictures?

There is still plenty of goodies to play with, including the basket, although the pile of natural pieces has gone done a bit. The best part is that everything keeps those beaks busy!

I'll end with one last picture of Joey, diving into the basket.