Thursday, April 30, 2015

...Hi...


He looks like he got caught on his way to do something he ought not to do...

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Cover, what cover?

We cover the birds' cages at night. We have always done so and it's something we'll keep doing. However, the last two days, this is what greeted us, in a way, when we've entered the bird room in the morning.


Yes, Léa has started to uncover her cage on her own. She's not being noisy once uncovered, but there is no denying she's looking proud when we look at her. Wonder if this will be only a week-end thing (as they don't get to come out as early), or if the same sight will greet us tomorrow morning...

On the topic of pinny heads...

...preening birds!



What?

This explains why Zuri has more pin feathers left than Shade - their mutual preening arrangement is strongly in Shade's favour.

Pinny heads

Although temperatures dropped again outside (we have not been in a position to bring the birds outside since the last time I posted about it), Spring has definitively hit this house. And I'm not referring to hormonal birds, they are actually rather well behaved on that front (I should go knock on some wood now). The birds are molting like crazy and beyond finding feathers everywhere, they are all full of pin feathers. Which make for itchy birds all asking to get their head scratched at once...and if you make the mistake of scratching one's head, you can bet then others will come over faster and it soon will become all that you do.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Never without a parrot...

The Boy thought it would be good for me to update the case of my phone and this is what he gave me...


This actually was presented as a gift from Joey - and it would probably be a very Joey thing to do! In fact, this morning I showed it to Joey and asked him if he had gifted this to me and he nodded his head in a yes fashion a few times...and then laughed.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Bird on my head - part 2

Piper's turn! Because if a bird does something, he just needs to show that he can do it better!









Monday, April 20, 2015

Bird on my head - part 1

This is one of Zuri's chosen places to hang out - my head. It is tricky to snap pictures of him up there with my proper camera, but here he is!



The way the second picture was taken - it either makes him appear larger than he is or it makes my head appear smaller than it is.


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Pre-Sidewlk Sale Things for Wings order

I placed this order with Things for Wings because our supply of TOP pellets was starting to get low and I wanted to ensure I received it before I ran out. Therefore, even though I was made aware of the dates for the Sidewalk Sale over at Avian Avenue, I didn't wait. In fact, the sale might have prompted me to actually go forward with the order there and then, as I knew the volume of orders made during the sale would make the wait longer. And because I was going to pay the ridiculous Canada Post shipping charges anyway, I thought I may as well add toys - I did still have a 15% off T4W toys coupon, which I got at a previous sale, so why not use it?

The box showed up earlier this week, but given it was a rather crazy time at work, I didn't get around to taking pictures until today.

When I opened the box, there were a few items I didn't recognize - more so, because it I apparently had no recollection of what I ordered, other than for five items (and two of those were food related and one was some cleaning solution we were in need of).

So with the help of my invoice, here is what was in the box!

Watermelon Picnic basket


This is the toy that puzzled me the most. I absolutely had no recollection of having ordered something with a basket. To be fair, I thought I might as well try some toys that I hadn't ordered before and this one would be appreciated by a number of the birds so it made sense that I added it to my shopping basket. But makes no sense that I couldn't even remember that.


Catching Flies


While I didn't remember that I had ordered it, I wasn't nearly as surprised to see this in the box. I had an "oh yeah" moment when I saw it. Léa will also be very happy.


Léa's toy


I had to take all the other toys out before being 100% convinced of what this toy was. I remembered I had ordered one, but it never looks exactly the same from one order to the next, which I have no problem with, as it always looks awesome and always includes materials that fit the requirements I had given when I first ordered the custom made toy. This is one of my favourite renditions of it, and I'm sure Ms. Big Beak will love it too.


Sunflower Woods


Another toy I didn't remember ordering, one that didn't leave me as puzzled as the Watermelon Picnic Basket but more so than the Catching Flies. Again, a toy that quite a few birds will enjoy, and might actually be shared by one of the smaller Pois (for initial destruction) and Léa (for the harder pieces of wood). I believe this also fell under the "let's try a toy I haven't ordered before" category, although I'm not sure I didn't get it once before...


Cork Barkunkle


I remember looking at these and debating about possibly ordering some, but didn't remember if I had gone through with it. Apparently I did! And I'm happy I did!


Cork Pick and Chip Stack


I knew I ordered these, as they were a success with all of the smaller Pois. They don't last too long, but the toy is very reasonably priced, if you consider the cork and the time it takes to cut the wood, so well worth it.


Wild Tulips


This is another one that falls clearly under the category of toys I thought I should give a try...then to forget about ordering it. This toy has Shade written all over it!


Just a Watermelon Toy


I look at this, and it makes sense that I ordered it. But like it's fellow watermelon toy, I don't recall having done so. I apparently loved the watermelon collection (I will have one or two more items coming thanks to the Sidewalk Sale) but I'm bad at remembering them. And I don't know why, some of these are so well suited for my guys!

That was it for the toys. Here is the "miscellaneous" stuff -

Mango Ginger Minis


Yes, that is some Avian Organics food! While T4W has been carrying some AO products for some time, I believe for the most part, they were products that were designed solely to be distributed by T4W (I could be wrong). However, as earlier this month, AO is no longer handling retails sails and T4W is now carrying a larger selection of the AO products, including a flock favourite, Mango Ginger Minis! While I was sad to see one of my favourite parrot-related business "close" in a way, I'm happy that I can still get AO food from T4W, which also will allow me to maximize shipping (include the food with a toy order and just have the one shipment coming my way!)


TOPs (10lbs bag)


Given the size of my flock, it makes sense to buy the largest bag available, and the only place I've seen it in Canada is at T4W. It lasts about three months (we replace pellets in the cages every second day) and keep the rest in the freezer.

Finally, the last thing that was part of this order was some AviClean concentrate solution. I didn't take a picture, as I had taken it out of the box when I opened it and asked the Boy to put it away before I took pictures.

And that is it!

The split

Could alternatively be called "Mind the gap" or even "Undecided Cape".



Saturday, April 18, 2015

Shade

A few additional pictures I took for her hatchday post. I like these as well!




Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Zuri vs. the (tiny) piece of wood

The face off

The battle

Victory!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Pixel


This might have been taken mid-preen or when she was about to make a "Red belly speech". Either way, it makes for a funny picture!

Sunday, April 12, 2015

First outing of 2015!

Although my backyard looked like this just last Wednesday -


- today was a wonderfully warm and very Spring like day (finally!) and it was most definitively warm enough to bring the birds outside (about 19 degrees Celcius!)


Not everyone was thrilled, in fact, I'm quite sure Zuri felt like he was tricked to come outside and Petey and Pixel were also a little skittish, especially in the beginning, but I'm very happy everyone got to enjoy some sun without it being overly hot (like it will be this summer).








We were out there for about an hour, just so that they can start getting acclimatized to going outside again. I'll also add that I've very happy I got all these Kings aluminum travel cages (especially the 6 medium sized ones), as it is apparently impossible to find any of those in stock anywhere anymore.

Hopefully the weather keeps getting better and we'll be able to go out more frequently!

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Avian Avenue Sidewalk Sale!

Avian Avenue is having a Sidewalk sale this week-end. I've been a member of Avian Avenue since its early days and at least once a year (sometimes twice), there is a sale that lasts a week-end where most members who also happen to be vendors will offer discounts.

If you click on the link below, you'll see past posts I've made about the Sidewalk sale or of hauls of items I've purchased during the sale:

Just Poifect - Sidewalk sale


Although I've taken a little break from posting (really) regularly on the forum (and the same can be said for this blog) due to being rather busy, Avian Avenue is the parrot-related forum I've been an active member for the longest and I would highly recommend joining.

The official thread about the sale can be found here:

Sidewalk Sale Spring 2015

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Interpretation


He looks rather angry here, really upset about something and letting us know.

But, in reality, I  simply caught him mid-yawn. He was not upset.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Hanging out in an unusual place

He does not typically do this (which is a good thing), not sure why he thought then that it would be a good idea.



Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Just within reach...

These make me laugh! Birds stretching a little to get to a toy or a particular part of a toy.