Posing Senegal

Generally she'll stay pretty still for most of her photoshoot - today I only really got the one picture of Shade "posing", and it was the first one. I'll be posting some of the others later.

Handsome preening Red-bellied parrot

Always taking care of his appearance when the camera comes out!

More homemade toys

Made these last week-end, but didn't get around to posting until today.

Again, more of my simple designs, but they are proving to be a success with the birds, who are really loving the thin cross cut pine lately.

Because two weren't enough...

Mother Pluckin' Bird Toys recently had a sale on their atoms/swings/boings and perches. I couldn't resist the temptation to finally purchase a third atom, which arrived today.



It is truly one of the favourite items for all the birds in the house. My first two are hung in the birdroom and in the computer room, this new one will be placed in the basement.

I've been considering a third atom for a while now, and initially was thinking of actually going a size up and getting a large. However, considering that the mediums I have now have always been enjoyed by all birds, even larger Léa, the difference in cost between the two sizes (and subsequent difference in shipping charge) and, most significantly, the fact that the space where I'm thinking of hanging the atom is much more suited for a medium size one (I will be using a ceiling protector and beneath the spot where I want to hang it is located a table with a table stand, which limits available hanging space), the choice became clear, although this time I opted for the PVC connectors as they don't have any colour which will fade with time and washing.

Given that it was being shipped in a fairly large box, I thought I might as well get a wood refill kit to maximize the shipping.



These Waffle Wafers are a favourite of Léa's (although some of the smaller guys are finally starting to chew on pine that thick).

Can't wait to hang this atom up!

Happy Hatchday Léa!

She turns 2 today!

Given how long I waited to finally add a Cape to my flock, it's a little funny to think that I've had one for nearly two years now.

She has started to shed her baby ways and is trying to find her own personality, something I haven't really been through since bringing Shade home. It's definitively interesting to watch.



Her vocabulary has expanded since a year ago, and she is using words in context. She's also definitively looking more "adult".


"A new favourite hang out spot"



Happy birthday Léa!

Silly Pois!

While things are taking a turn for the better with Léa, I'm still dealing with some jealousy when it comes to Shade and Pixel.

Generally, Pixel is the problematic one and will chase Shade. Lately, however, Shade has instigated her share of "issues". While she is smart enough to generally avoid entering into direct contact with Pixel, she's not a fan of Pixel getting much one-on-one, even though she isn't, at the time, requesting some herself.

I generally give Shade the opportunity to spend time with me first (as the "first" bird out of the two) and she'll either want to stick to my shoulder and/or get her head scratched or chose to not be around me and go play on her own. If she choses the latter option, Pixel generally takes the opportunity to request some one-on-one time, which is only fair. She generally will chose to sit on my shoulder and cuddle. This is what Shade doesn't like - and will generally chose this opportunity to fly close enough to Pixel that I need to intervene.

At this point, I put Shade on the computer desk and, in the past, she'll play with whatever random piece of wood is there until Pixel walks down my arm to get to the table (probably in an effort to get to Shade). If Pixel gets off on her own accord, I will generally pick up Shade and put her back on the shoulder (where she will stay all of 5 minutes to prove she got the spot).

However, Pixel has lately decided that she'll stay on my shoulder if Shade comes around. Since Shade doesn't get what she wants after a few minutes, she'll take off in a huff, flying close to Pixel, yet not close enough to get "caught" by Pixel, but close enough to freak me out a little.

It would be nice if both could behave and share in a nicer way.

Happiness...

..is enjoying a pumpkin seed!

I generally have Léa on my own during work days, when we get back home in the afternoon. I have to say that today, has been the most pleasant time together in a while, ever since our relationship changed a few months ago (when she started to test me). It really made me hopeful that things could get back to what they used to be, although her stepping onto my hands is still hit or miss at times. But I really try to reinforce her positively with the pumpkin seeds rewards, she has earned quite a few today!

Zuri's beautiful blue rump

It is so rare that he displays it long enough to get a single picture, so I felt particularly spoiled when I managed to get these!

Lovely Shade

She poses so nicely most of the time (unless she really doesn't want to deal with the camera).
She also has no problem sharing a stand with Piper, whereas if this had been another bird close to Piper, I wouldn't have chanced a picture and just removed one of them.

Some pictures of Joey

Just a few pictures I took over the week-end.





Funnily enough, when I processed these, Joey was sitting on a perch on the computer desk and became all intrigued when his picture was on the screen!

Trying to get back his youthful look?

Here is a picture as a baby of two months or so of age -



We used to say he had a "dirty" face, given how uneven the grey/black was. But it was all natural.

Lately, Piper has been hiding under the newspaper that lines the bottom of his cage quite a bit, which means that he's adorable peach/white face has taken a grey-ish tinge..



I wonder if he's trying to recapture his youthful looks?

On a side note, while I think I took a large number of pictures of Piper as a baby, I can't seem to find most of them, which makes me a little sad. Guess I'll have to see if I can't find my old hard rive which might store some of them.

Bribery

That is a pumpkin seed she's holding.

A bribery of sorts - it's one of her favourite treats so I'll be using them heavily to reward good behaviour.

We've made some progress in the stepping on my hand with no drama (since October it's been on/off but she'll step on my arm quite well) but I really need her to do it more consistently, as it's easier to put her back in her cage when she's on my hand.

She's also growing into her beak and we'll start more pro-actively rewarding her when she's gentle. She sometimes bites down a little harder than we would like, although she doesn't break skin. I think for most of it, she's just playing rough and it's not necessarily done out of malice, but better to reinforce the gentle use of beak on our hands and let her use whatever force she'll want on her toys. On that note, she's been quite destructive of her toys lately, not that I'm complaining, it's obvious she needs to use her beak and I'd much rather she use that venue.

In any case, hopefully she'll keep enjoying the pumpkin seeds as rewards as the seed mix they are provided with has quite a few and since none of the others like them, we just pull them out for this purpose.

Sleepy head

Somehow, it doesn't seem to be the most comfortable place for a nap...

Happy Hatchday Zuri!

He turns 6 today!

For some reason, it's hard to believe he's already 6. He joined the flock before turning two and has been the baby for quite some time, until Léa came around.

When I took his pictures yesterday, to be ready to post about him this morning, all he did was keep following me through the room (I needed a certain distance to be able to properly focus on him). It was cute.





Happy birthday Zuri!

We went outside again!

Today was another gorgeous day, warm enough to bring the birds out (although it feels like we will once again do the jump from cold winter to hot summer without much of a Spring with in-between weather..).

Everyone but Zuri, who refused to go in a carrier/cage on two different attempts (with multiple tries each), got to enjoy a little over an hour of sunshine. They all seemed quite at ease this time around, except maybe for Petey who was trying out a Kings travel cage for the first time.

We started in a nice an sunny location, although after 20 minutes or so, we moved them to an area that had more shade (which they seem to appreciate).

This time around, I had my camera outside and took a few pictures!

In the sunny spot -











In the shaded area -