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BIRDS and BEES and BUTTERFLY and Trees


Debbie Rose

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So I have had a bird peck into my tomatoe for liquid which provided me with enough guilt to act.

I am usually good with my bird feeders-both seeds and thistle and nectar-but this year I only put sugar juice out once and nothing else.....now I feel so bad and so I pulled out the feeders for my Hummingbirds and cooked up some sugar juice, then let it go sour and not refilling them.  The tomatoe being pecked was a signal of just how desperate my hummers were. 

Well, they are happy campers now!!. I have put out 5 feeders at different points around my house. I get these very bossy males I call "Nazi's" that chase away other hummers but he can not watch ALL of the feeders All of the time. This has worked well for the most part. Later in summer there may be a female that acts that way too but only once her nestlings are weaned and they hatch at least 2 broods a year

I love hummingbirds ! They are nervy birds who will "chitter" their opinions at you if you are not fast enough with replacing the feeders and the "ballet" they perform when 2 males (or females) are fighting is amazing to watch. And if you have a red shirt on you may find one approach you with ardor too.

I placed the feeders in windows so I can always see at least one feeder.

So what is your favorite birds??

Any particular butterfly that is unique or particular beautiful in your area??

Interesting trees?

What beauty of nature sooths you?

Debbie

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Hi Debbie,

I just wanted to say that I stumbled across your beautiful post on a night I was feeling especially crummy and I found it so uplifting.  You really brought a smile to my face!  I meant to respond but got busy and then forgot. 

A month ago my husband spotted a blue jay baby on the ground in the park behind our apartment and he got our building maintenance department to give him a ladder and he lifted my daughter up and they put the baby back into the nest (we live in a big city and blue jays are rare around here).  Turns out there were 3 babies in the nest and we had such enjoyment watching them for the next week until they were old enough to fly away. 

I love birds and grew up with parrots in the house.  When my heavy symptoms first started and before I was diagnosed, there were days I could barely get out of bed to take care of my kids.  Every day felt like a nightmare.  Since we aren't allowed to have dogs and my hubby is allergic to cats, I researched a parrot that wasn't very loud.  I bought myself a tiny guy called a Turquoise Green Cheek Conure and found a pet shop that handfed them with a dropper from the minute they hatched.  We would go to the shop every weekend and handle the birds until we found one that we bonded with and when he was old enough, we got to take him home.  Buddy is the love of my life!  When I was at my worst, I HAD to get out of bed and feed him and make sure he had clean water.  At night I HAD to get up and cover him.  Sometimes when I was home sick and in bed, he'd sit on a perch in my room and watch tv with me.  He drives me nuts sometimes when he keeps calling "mommy, mommy" and he can get a bit loud at times or try to eat the keyboard on the laptop - he needs a LOT of attention - but it takes my mind off my issues.  Buddy even whistles tunes and dances! 

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Ashc,  I too love birds and had a parrot for 8 years that talked and was very special to me.

Hi, Hanging by a thread,

    I too had a parrot- a little blue Quacker-a bit bigger than a conure (bff has one). I had had him for 8 years with no problems and then suddenly within a year (2 years after symptoms of POTS , and my suspicion of MCAS) I became allergic to his dander. I was heartbroken.!  He too talked "Momma", "giva a kiss" followed by smootchy sound, " I'm beautiful Skye", and "Skye's a dirty bird " was he wants a bath, "Hiya cutie" and so much more. I loved him so, he enjoyed hanging out on my knee or shoulder and was such a comfort when I had no other options but to sit still. When he would try to get an ear ring or a button I would say no and blow in his face...he would growl in response !! so funny.  He knew my other animals names and he out lived 3 of them and it would be so sad when he would call them (they would come to him) and I knew they would not come. I re-homed him to a bird sanctuary where he is loved and because he is such a calm quacker compared to some, he helps calm the others. They have 3 aviaries-one for their huge birds, one for regular size parrots (Skye and conures and similars) and a small one for the parakeets. They really care.

   I actually had an opportunity to hold a hummingbird years ago when I lived in MD. I had an acre of open land and yet my hummers would find me. One early May day I was re-filling the feeders and I saw my cat sitting in the garage looking down at a small mound on the garage floor. It was still somewhat cool out and the garage floor was cold. When I went in to look, there was a small young hummingbird lying there ( he didn't have any tail feathers yet) unresponsive. I quickly picked him up very gently-he was truly as light as a feather-and placed him in my palm and took him outside. I took a dropper of the nectar and slid it on his beak and at the same time I made sure I was in the sun. Withing 10 seconds I saw his tongue flicker out, then he lifted his head and drank again. He started to warm up and shook his head, looked at me, then flew off. I swear my heart stood still for a moment. I named him stubby and would often see him at the feeders. Such special moments to hold on to

Hope you are staying cool

Debbie

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Hi Debbie Rose,

That's so horrible that you had to re-home your precious Skye.  You must have been heartbroken for quite some time.  I had a few birds growing up.  We had to give away our pair of African Greys because my sister was allergic to them.  When I was about 12 my parents let me have a blue and gold macaw. I loved that crazy bird but once I started working she hated me and bonded to my mother.  When I got married my parents kept the bird but it hated children and nearly bit the finger off my daughter.  When my parents moved into a house with 2 floor instead of a ranch, she screamed non-stop for my mom and my dad said enough is enough and they gave her away.  Unfortunately, the new owner refused contact with us shortly afterwards so I don't know what became of my bird. 

My husband has a ton of allergies and I can't be around the dander of cockatoos so I did some research and decided on a green cheek.  He doesn't have much dander at all (and he bathes every other day).  I can nuzzle my nose up to him without any problems.  He also has a less powerful scream than most other parrots - that's mainly why I chose him.....I just couldn't deal with having to give away another bird because the neighbors in the apartment next door might complain about the screaming.  If I had my way, I'd love to have another macaw.  I think they are much calmer than green cheeks.  My little guy has this obsessive-compulsive thing about trying to chew holes into my shirts or pick off buttons and freckles and I can't have my hair in a hair tie around him and I can't really have him sitting on my shoulder because he will start crawling around my shirt and chew bra straps.  I could warn him 1,000 times not to do something but he's determined.  The best part is that when I leave the apartment he makes the smoochy noises and says "give me kiss kiss"  His voice isn't the clearest but he's very good at duplicating noises.  One day I went to toss out the trash down the chute in the hallway and he made the exact same sound as the squeaky door on the chute.  Then the next morning when I went to get water to take my meds, he was still covered but imitated the squeak of my sink-mounted water filter (seconds before I even got to the sink).  He's too smart for his own good and it is probably a good thing that he doesn't say a ton of words because he'd probably rat us out.  As it is, whenever my youngest is on technology or sneaking tv in the living room instead of getting ready for school, Buddy faces her and just screams and screams to tattle on her.  He also imitates the vacuum - he makes the same high-pitched noise as the vacuum makes when you get it clogged by sucking up too many things.  Life is never dull with a parrot!

That's a great hummingbird story.  What did it feel like?  I know my little guy has such a fast heartbeat - I bet a humming bird's is so much faster but I'm only guessing.

My sister lives in the suburbs.  There's a very large murky lake behind the house.  It is surrounded by old fallen trees and a lot of brush.  The lake is full of lily pads and in the warm weather the flowers on the pads are beautiful pink.  There are usually a ton of dragonflies flitting about as well.  One lone loon stops by every so often but is usually stays so far out on the water that we can't really see much of it.  We like to walk to the water's edge and watch for bullfrogs with the kids.  Usually they can hear us coming and jump right into the water so we don't see much - only hear them but it is cool if you can see their big eyes under the water.  Last weekend we saw a really nice cardinal - it seemed like its red color was much more brighter than any other cardinal I had ever seen.  It was so beautiful but it took off immediately and hid in the trees.  I love birds and flowering trees.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, Hanging on,

 Yes the humminbirds heart beat was so fast it was a "thrill" feeling to it.  Buddy sounds great! Skye would surprise me occasionally with hiis own version of things. Once my dogs were arguing  over a bone and I intervened loudly and Skye said "What's happening?" his own doing in the phrase-amazing. Well my hummers are fighting and chasing each other all over my front and back yard and I have 9 feeders out there...LOL..greedy little suckers...And I finally put out my thistle sock for my goldfinch and they are happily coming round now too-amazing colors!!

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