Good morning, everyone!!!
It's not only Monday but also a new month. It's also vacation MONTH!!! Yes, in a few short weeks I will have a week off the day job, in a beautiful place, Hocking Hills, with hopefully NO alarm clocks :)
But until then, it is business as usual. I'm working the early early shift all week with the boss on vacation herself. So it's early to rise early to bed all week for this old girl.
Lately I've been working on finding stress busters. One thing I've found out about my birds is building their trust is not only rewarding, but also very soothing. It's not an over night process, it takes time to get those little feathered friends to even jump up on your arm. Okay, unless your feathered friend is named Lilli and then that's the exception to the rule :)
Each night when I'm home alone (which is often), I spend a little time chatting with them, calling them by name, and resting my arm across their perches. They in turn chat back with me, Lilli of course hops right up on my arm, Rudy, Sunny, and Mr. Gray, however, usually hang out on the bars just listening, chattering, and watching. Last night was different :) As Lilli is walking up and down my arm, Rudy decided he would be brave and jump up on my arm too. Next came Sunny.
Sunny is brilliantly colored, yellows, greens, blues, just a bright sunshiny bird. I keep long branches from the trees outdoors, inside their cage to give a tree like illusion for them. The last one I put in came down in a storm and has a ton of branches shooting off of it. Well, Sunny decided he would perch right beside my arm last evening. He watched as Lilli and Rudy took turns running up and down my arm. The next thing I knew he was perching on my arm as well. :)
Mr. Gray watched all of this from the other side of the cage, but soon felt brave enough to perch on the branches beside me. Still no checking me out any closer, but I'm confident he will soon join his feathered companions in accepting me as their friend :)
One thing I've learned from this experience as a 'bird lady' as hubby and his friends call me, is how calm I get when hanging out with these little creatures. They have such amazing personalities. Lilli is the bold one. She knows very little fear :) From the very beginning she's just come right to me, hopped up on my arm, chattered with me face to face. She loves fingernails and cleans mine all the time LOL.
Rudy has been a hard one to win over. From the very get go, he's been somewhat distant. Very cautious. He was like that at the pet store and one of the very reasons I picked him as my first bird. So when he was as excited as Lilli last evening to see me, well, it made me feel good. It only took four months LOL.
Sunny has come around a bit faster, only a few months and he's already curious as to who this human is hanging around their cage. He has such a bright and cheerful personality. Something that makes my heart smile when I see him :)
Mr. Gray has always been the most serious of the flock. Ever the cautious one. Don't get me wrong, he is very engaged in conversation and always pays close attention whether I'm interacting with them or just sitting in the same room chatting with someone else. He's always watching, always aware of everything going on around him :)
There is just something about having these feathered little friends that brings peace to my soul. Listening to them chat amongst each other, or with me, watching them fly (they have a very large 5 foot tall 4 foot wide fly cage), or how they use one of the water dishes as a bird bath and the other is for drinking LOL. It is just soothing for me. I believe because it's one of my favorite things about being outdoors. Birds are just relaxing to me and now I have them inside all the time :)
Shadow and Bear are used to them now, so they don't get so excited anymore when the flock goes on a chattering rampage. Even the cat, Lexi, seems to just enjoy them. She will lounge on the floor not far from the cage and sleep, lifting her head if the flock gets too quiet or exceptionally loud suddenly. Otherwise, she's just content residing peacefully with them :)
Well I better start motivating and get ready for this Monday.
Everyone have a lovely day!!!
Blessings to all!!!
It's not only Monday but also a new month. It's also vacation MONTH!!! Yes, in a few short weeks I will have a week off the day job, in a beautiful place, Hocking Hills, with hopefully NO alarm clocks :)
But until then, it is business as usual. I'm working the early early shift all week with the boss on vacation herself. So it's early to rise early to bed all week for this old girl.
Lately I've been working on finding stress busters. One thing I've found out about my birds is building their trust is not only rewarding, but also very soothing. It's not an over night process, it takes time to get those little feathered friends to even jump up on your arm. Okay, unless your feathered friend is named Lilli and then that's the exception to the rule :)
Each night when I'm home alone (which is often), I spend a little time chatting with them, calling them by name, and resting my arm across their perches. They in turn chat back with me, Lilli of course hops right up on my arm, Rudy, Sunny, and Mr. Gray, however, usually hang out on the bars just listening, chattering, and watching. Last night was different :) As Lilli is walking up and down my arm, Rudy decided he would be brave and jump up on my arm too. Next came Sunny.
Sunny is brilliantly colored, yellows, greens, blues, just a bright sunshiny bird. I keep long branches from the trees outdoors, inside their cage to give a tree like illusion for them. The last one I put in came down in a storm and has a ton of branches shooting off of it. Well, Sunny decided he would perch right beside my arm last evening. He watched as Lilli and Rudy took turns running up and down my arm. The next thing I knew he was perching on my arm as well. :)
Mr. Gray watched all of this from the other side of the cage, but soon felt brave enough to perch on the branches beside me. Still no checking me out any closer, but I'm confident he will soon join his feathered companions in accepting me as their friend :)
One thing I've learned from this experience as a 'bird lady' as hubby and his friends call me, is how calm I get when hanging out with these little creatures. They have such amazing personalities. Lilli is the bold one. She knows very little fear :) From the very beginning she's just come right to me, hopped up on my arm, chattered with me face to face. She loves fingernails and cleans mine all the time LOL.
Rudy has been a hard one to win over. From the very get go, he's been somewhat distant. Very cautious. He was like that at the pet store and one of the very reasons I picked him as my first bird. So when he was as excited as Lilli last evening to see me, well, it made me feel good. It only took four months LOL.
Sunny has come around a bit faster, only a few months and he's already curious as to who this human is hanging around their cage. He has such a bright and cheerful personality. Something that makes my heart smile when I see him :)
Mr. Gray has always been the most serious of the flock. Ever the cautious one. Don't get me wrong, he is very engaged in conversation and always pays close attention whether I'm interacting with them or just sitting in the same room chatting with someone else. He's always watching, always aware of everything going on around him :)
There is just something about having these feathered little friends that brings peace to my soul. Listening to them chat amongst each other, or with me, watching them fly (they have a very large 5 foot tall 4 foot wide fly cage), or how they use one of the water dishes as a bird bath and the other is for drinking LOL. It is just soothing for me. I believe because it's one of my favorite things about being outdoors. Birds are just relaxing to me and now I have them inside all the time :)
Shadow and Bear are used to them now, so they don't get so excited anymore when the flock goes on a chattering rampage. Even the cat, Lexi, seems to just enjoy them. She will lounge on the floor not far from the cage and sleep, lifting her head if the flock gets too quiet or exceptionally loud suddenly. Otherwise, she's just content residing peacefully with them :)
Well I better start motivating and get ready for this Monday.
Everyone have a lovely day!!!
Blessings to all!!!