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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Bourke Parakeet Babies

One & Two Day Old Baby Rosy Bourkes
We had a visitor today. I reached in to Cherry's nest box to retrieve a baby to show young Dylan and got two wrapped around each other! There was at least one other baby under the hen. She had four eggs, so maybe there are still two more babies in the box. Cherry has at least three, maybe four babies. Don't want to push her around to find out for sure.  

The two babies Dylan is holding are brand new baby Rosy Bourke parakeets.

I love sharing my birds with children. Sparking a love for birds and nature is a very good thing.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Baby Rosy Bourkes, June 18, 2011

Cherry had four eggs, with three hatches so far. The third egg hatched just moments before I peeked into her box and saw the little wet guy. Grabbing my camera, I shot these two photos before she covered the babies.
Just hatched chick is at bottom of photo, under Mom's neck.
 He's still wet. Two fuzzy siblings are above him.

I had to hold the camera to the side and couldn't look through the viewfinder, so guessed at what I'd get. The first photo isn't framed well ... part of the newly hatched chick isn't showing.The 2nd photo is framed better, but sadly blurry.  I went back for another, but she had them hidden.
Several empty shells nearby. Hen has three chicks under
her chin and one egg left to hatch. Darkest baby is still wet.

The egg shells will probably disappear soon. I think they provide extra calcium for the mothers, as they don't typically reappear on the cage floor or anywhere else.

Cherry is an experienced hen and always does well raising her young. She's confident and isn't frightened when we peek in at her.

Friday, June 17, 2011

A New Look for this Bird Blog and an Update

Hope you like the new face on this blog. The old one didn't allow three columns.
This morning's visitors. We see does almost every day, but
a young buck is a rare treat. He still has velvet on his antlers.
He and the doe behind him were asleep in a field of tall grass
until I opened the door and woke them.They left in a hurry.


You may wonder why so few blogs from me recently. The truth is that, in addition to taking care of my birds, I'm completing the final editing on a novel. When it's published, I'll announce it here and everywhere else possible. Smile.

Meanwhile, some of our hummingbirds are back, although not as many as in previous years. We have fewer swallows this spring than in previous years too. I hope that's not a trend. We love birds, both domestic and wild.

We have some newly hatched baby Rosy Bourkes in the nest, but sadly our Splendid eggs appear to be infertile...again. Rainbow was the father of three gorgeous males before his mate died. He's had two different hens since then, but both have had infertile eggs with him and with other males, as well. Sadly, they are poor breeders ... or should I say, "non-breeders"?

At least the Bourkes are doing well.

Peace & Blessings.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Cat & Owl Friends ... A Fascinating Video

Warning, you may need to turn the volume down, or mute it. The music is loud.



Aren't animals wonderful? My favorite cats have all been solid blacks ... all three (Panther, Shadow and Mei-Ling)  have all had an amazing sense of humor. This one reminds me of my current black cat, Mei-Ling who is five years old.  

I love how well animals can learn to love and trust one another.