November 2019 POTM Contest

[Valyndris]

It's so hard to choose which picture I want as my official one but I have made my decision. I will start with the just for fun ones.

Here was Birdy the budgie (female) playing with little army men:

Green cheek conures I helped my mother hand raise, they were so fun:

Baby cockatiels I helped my mom hand raise, I did the keep them tame part which is the best part of course, cockatiels are my favorite of the small parrots. This picture is extra cute but it won't be my official entry as we just hand raised them and sold them (mother had a pet store) so they didn't stay as our pets for long even though this is probably the picture I am posting that'd be most likely to get more votes:

So I was having a hard time choosing between this picture and the next as my official entry and I'm still unsure but I have to choose, so this is going to have to be another just for fun, Jacob on his back as a baby:

And now for my official entry, "My first pet ever, Spike the cockatiel playing in a K'Nex fort, as kids my brother and I loved playing with these. My mother's friend adopted him as we couldn't keep him due to Jacob being allergic. I went to visit him once in a while, Spike was happy there. I last saw Spike on his 19th birthday this year on October 23rd. Unfortunately he has very recently passed away on November 11th this very month. I have so many happy memories with him and I am glad I got to see him one last time.

 

[Anansi]

Terr, this is a phenomenal and heartfelt theme! Truly inspired, and already proving to be a blockbuster month! And I am so touched by the pics you chose in your examples! Especially the one with Cally, of course, but every one of them made my heart smile.

Our sweet wild-caught Cally, remembered with much love

​

 

[Anansi]

Made me sad to dig around for this.

Berta, my wild caught Orange Winged Amazon. She was with me from 1976 through 2015

Berta was beautiful! And she shared so much of her life with you. What an amazing bond the two of you must have shared. I'm so glad we get to share in her memory with you.

This is our Canary winged parrot (Brotogeris) Max, who was ship's mascot for 6 years. He was the sweetest, most people friendly parrot I have ever had the pleasure to know. Max picked me out of whole tank full of his brethren, jumped on my hand and wolf whistled in my face. Who could resist? Max not a day goes by that your family does not miss you, still.

Max's personality seems to jump right off the screen, Al! He sounds like he was an amazing companion! And the way he picked you out with the bold jump to your hand and the wolf whistle? You're right, I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone who could resist that!

This is the first time I have ever posted in this sub forum.

Here is the picture of two of my best friends who are no longer with me.

Smokey and her "Uncle Joe"...she really loved that guy

Jim

What a fitting picture for your first POTM entry, Jim! Such a sweet moment captured in time. Smokey and her Uncle Joe really do look quite taken with one another, and I know you were quite taken with them in turn. Thank you so much for sharing such a touching moment with us, my friend.

Official entry
This was the first time Eddie was outside, well in our home. (He did go out with past owner) He loved flying outside, getting tired very quickly yet having so much fun. (A picture of him flying was posted in the last contest)

Eddie's beauty never fails to take my breath away. And the first time outside (as a member of your household) is definitely a huge milestone.

 

[Anansi]

I apologise in advance for my photo overload! Lots of Sunny first times


My OFFICIAL ENTRY Sunnys first time in the apple tree..

As always, I fall more in love with Sunny every time you share a pic of him! He's one of those birds whose personality leaps right off the screen!

And now for the overload
SORRY!!

First time Sunny sat on my shoulder (2 days after I found him)

Beautiful moments, every single one! But the one I kept in the quote of you two is my absolute favorite! The love in that shot is a beautiful thing. And it isn't possible to overload with Sunny pics, btw, as we can never get enough!

I've said it before, but what you did for him is nothing short of amazing. Rescuing him, loving him, and preparing him for life back in the wild. I know you are never far from his thoughts.

 

[Anansi]

No official entry here yet, just sharing memories of my cockatiel named Shadow...

Shadow the cockatiel

He was part of a clutch of 3 eggs. Unfortunately the parents abandoned the eggs 1 week prior to hatching. We did not have an incubator at the time but we did have a friend with a pair of love birds. We gave the eggs to the pair of love birds and they took care of them as if they were their own. The first egg hatched but the love birds killed it when they realized it wasn't one of theirs. We tried to keep a close eye for the second egg but didn't notice it in time and that bird was also killed for the same reason. Now we were on full time awareness with little to no sleep. The third egg hatched and we saved the little baby in time.

We named him Shadow and he was born August 11th 2003. He was hand raised from day one and was the size of a thumb when he hatched. Feeding him was a challenge but we used a tiny syringe to get some formula in him feeding him every hour for 24 hours to gradually needing feedings less often as he grew, this resulted in little to no sleep but this little guy was worth it. Here he is at 10 days old. He was kept in a small heated tank.

Shadow became such a wonderful pet, you could do anything with him, from holding him on his back to petting him anywhere and he was cool with it. Here he is at 1 month old.

Unfortunately Shadow passed away at the age of 8 years old on September 12th 2011. Losing him was the hardest loss I ever had to deal with in my life as he was my first loss and such a beloved pet and companion. Those feelings of hurt slowly turned into happy memories of such an amazing animal. I am glad to have had 8 years with him even though his time was cut short due to unknown reasons. He was fine 1 day and the next morning he was dying. He died in my arms, it was so hard on me but I am glad he didn't die alone but got to die in the arms of his favorite person. I miss him dearly and will never forget him, may he rest in peace. My father got me this plushy to always remember him by. I love you my little Shadow, you will always have a place in my heart. August 11th 2003 - September 12th 2011

I love how you told Shadow's story here, from his beginning to his transition. The special place he holds in your heart comes through so clearly, and I can see how lucky you both were to have each other. I'm so sorry you lost him so early, but it's obvious he loved, and was loved in turn, a lifetime's worth.

The photo I want isn't on my phone, so here is a just for fun.
Opal and Jordan. They loved each other, unfortunately Jordan isn't with us anymore.

What a beautiful pair they make! And their love for each other shines through. I'm so sorry that Jordan is no longer with you, but those memories will live on within you.

JUST FOR FUN! ^_^


When????? This is Kise's first time step-up on the scale when she was came home with her new mommy, Lily....

Isn't she is CUTE????

I've got a soft spot for lil' Miss Kise. So beautiful! And such a sweet little face! I can see the love for her mommy clear as day!

 

[Anansi]

Just for fun photos:

Here (in Poland) was All Saint's Day yesterday, so I will begin with my first fids which aren't longer with us. They were Limonka and Szafirek. I got them on my 10th Birthday - August 4th 2010
They had one babie named Green. I'm sure my dad took few photos of him but we were searching and searching but unfortunetely we couldn't find them Probably they were deleted Also, we couldn't really find any pics of his parents except so bad quality photos from my first phone. Here are few of them:
Limonka (left) and Szafirek (right) together:

Limonka "riding" an eagle

Szafirek:

During the searching we found only one better (but still not the best) quality photo of them:

Unfortunetely Szafirek became ill and died on December 23th 2013. About half year later we made a mistake buying a mirror for Limonka. A budgie in the mirror became her new "partner" and this was her whole word - only she and her mirror She also laid two eggs (the 1st one was in the Szafirek's death anniversary). On January 2015 she also passed away. Then I was in a hospital and was coming back the next day after her death

In the next post will be photos related to current fids

Limonka and Szafirek were beautiful! I'm so sorry you lost them so soon, as I can see they were very special to you. Your first fids at ten, eh? Wow, you started young! The beginning of a lifetime love for birds, I see.

This one still gets me misty eyed, and means so much to me.

Parker’s first flight.

Parker the parrot officially flies! - YouTube

Yessssss! I remember how amped I got when this first happened! That first flight is always huge, but it was even more so for Parker whom you had been a (apparently hormone-based) plucker from before you'd even gotten him. Who would have thought he would grow in enough flight feathers for flight... and that you'd be able to coax a bird who had never fledged into flight. I've always loved this video!

 

[Anansi]

Still just for fun:
After death of Limonka we bought Bourkes. In 2017 Fela and Jaś had first babies (named later Luna and Klaudia), unfortunetely one of them passed away this summer. Here they are in their nest box:

Here is one of them after leaving the nest box:

They have had few clutches. The latest one was this year but is going to be one of the most remebered because it was the first time when... Fela and Jaś gave up raising their babies They were 2 weeks old, I hadn't had any hand-raising experience but I did it. Here, on the vid I think they were about 3 weeks old
Karmienie / feeding time - YouTube
Unfortunetely, one of them passed away after finishing hand-raising
My official entry:
... but my official entry is Zenek. Then he was the first day here - July 1st 2016. Also, this is his the 1st photo

And another beautiful set of pics! Look at those babies! Tiniest little things! I'm so sorry about the ones who passed, though.

Nice entry of Zenek who is standing tall for his pic! Pretty much posing! Love it!

 

[Anansi]

Oh, here is a just for fun that isn't sad.

IT'S BABY ELVIS!

This photo was among the first photos taken of him back in 2016.

What a sweet flock you have! And Elvis has always been one of my favorites of your crew.

Lucky was such a beautiful bird.

I'll get started with a few Just For Fun entries from the Rickeybird Scrapbook. I'll wade into the old photo albums before picking a final entry. Thanks for this opportunity to rack up brownie points with the Missus, Terry. I'll be sitting pretty after this. Oh but of course my real motivation is that it's just such a genuine pleasure to showcase the Bird's terrific history. What a fine old fellow he is indeed. A fine fellow.
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About 1984................ before my time, back when my lovely Missus and her rooster had their kingdom high on a hill in New Mexico. He was about a year old, I will estimate.

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His debut in primitive social media at the tender age of a few years.

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The Bird's birthday sometime in the early 1990s............................ he would have been 8-9.

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Ho ho ho. Enough said.

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The Missus, the Rickeybird, and a pile of Bird Talks and American Cagebird magazines in the late 90s, maybe. zhe would have been 30-something, and I was... older.

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The two roosters are entrenched in their quest for dominance in the hen house................... a few years ago.

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And then we found this Community a few years ago. Here is the infamous Skype session when Al hosted a little whoop-de-do on Salty's first birthday. Salty showed off his skills and Rickey showed his butt.

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Thanks for looking, everybody.​

These are AWESOME!!! I can never get enough of seeing Abs' long and happy history with the notorious RB! Together since '84! Great pics, Rival!

 

[Anansi]

It's so hard to choose which picture I want as my official one but I have made my decision. I will start with the just for fun ones.

Here was Birdy the budgie (female) playing with little army men:

Green cheek conures I helped my mother hand raise, they were so fun:

Baby cockatiels I helped my mom hand raise, I did the keep them tame part which is the best part of course, cockatiels are my favorite of the small parrots. This picture is extra cute but it won't be my official entry as we just hand raised them and sold them (mother had a pet store) so they didn't stay as our pets for long even though this is probably the picture I am posting that'd be most likely to get more votes:

So I was having a hard time choosing between this picture and the next as my official entry and I'm still unsure but I have to choose, so this is going to have to be another just for fun, Jacob on his back as a baby:

And now for my official entry, my first pet ever, Spike the cockatiel playing in a K'Nex fort, as kids my brother and I loved playing with these. Spike is now 19 years old and my mother's friend has him, I go visit him once in a while. We couldn't keep him due to Jacob being allergic, Spike is happy where he lives now.

I love all of these! Any one of them could've been your official entry! But I love how Spike is standing sentry with the watchtower gunner in that Kinex set! Hilarity!

 

[Terry57]

I'll get started with a few Just For Fun entries from the Rickeybird Scrapbook. I'll wade into the old photo albums before picking a final entry. Thanks for this opportunity to rack up brownie points with the Missus, Terry. I'll be sitting pretty after this. Oh but of course my real motivation is that it's just such a genuine pleasure to showcase the Bird's terrific history. What a fine old fellow he is indeed. A fine fellow.
------------------------
------------------------
About 1984................ before my time, back when my lovely Missus and her rooster had their kingdom high on a hill in New Mexico. He was about a year old, I will estimate.

---------------------------
---------------------------
His debut in primitive social media at the tender age of a few years.

----------------------------
----------------------------
The Bird's birthday sometime in the early 1990s............................ he would have been 8-9.

----------------------------
----------------------------
Ho ho ho. Enough said.

----------------------------
----------------------------
The Missus, the Rickeybird, and a pile of Bird Talks and American Cagebird magazines in the late 90s, maybe. zhe would have been 30-something, and I was... older.

----------------------------
----------------------------
The two roosters are entrenched in their quest for dominance in the hen house................... a few years ago.

---------------------------
---------------------------
And then we found this Community a few years ago. Here is the infamous Skype session when Al hosted a little whoop-de-do on Salty's first birthday. Salty showed off his skills and Rickey showed his butt.

---------------------------
---------------------------
Thanks for looking, everybody.​

Kirby, you always make me laugh! You picked some wonderful pictures, in fact I hope brownies come along with the points, you have earned them!
I never tire of seeing all the pictures of The Rb through the years, and seeing Gail is always such a bonus! She is the incredible woman who never ages.
I can't wait to see which picture ends up being the entry.

 

[Terry57]

It's so hard to choose which picture I want as my official one but I have made my decision. I will start with the just for fun ones.

Here was Birdy the budgie (female) playing with little army men:

Green cheek conures I helped my mother hand raise, they were so fun:

Baby cockatiels I helped my mom hand raise, I did the keep them tame part which is the best part of course, cockatiels are my favorite of the small parrots. This picture is extra cute but it won't be my official entry as we just hand raised them and sold them (mother had a pet store) so they didn't stay as our pets for long even though this is probably the picture I am posting that'd be most likely to get more votes:

So I was having a hard time choosing between this picture and the next as my official entry and I'm still unsure but I have to choose, so this is going to have to be another just for fun, Jacob on his back as a baby:

And now for my official entry, my first pet ever, Spike the cockatiel playing in a K'Nex fort, as kids my brother and I loved playing with these. Spike is now 19 years old and my mother's friend has him, I go visit him once in a while. We couldn't keep him due to Jacob being allergic, Spike is happy where he lives now.

I love all of these pictures! I can imagine how hard it was to pick just one, but you picked well Spike is beyond adorable keeping watch there, and my tiel Spike sends feathered greetings!

 

[Scott]

I am impressed beyond belief with the durable memories and overflowing love for the fids featured thus far. And we're not even through the first week. Amazing contest, Terry!!

 

[Anansi]

Here are some Just For Fun entries. These pics have always been particularly special to me, as my Bixby was valiantly fighting the sickness that eventually claimed his life when we took them. I feel like the love between us really comes across in these, and I've always cherished the way looking back at them makes me feel. Love you, Bixby!

 

[Terry57]

Terr, this is a phenomenal and heartfelt theme! Truly inspired, and already proving to be a blockbuster month! And I am so touched by the pics you chose in your examples! Especially the one with Cally, of course, but every one of them made my heart smile.

Our sweet wild-caught Cally, remembered with much love

​

Here are some Just For Fun entries. These pics have always been particularly special to me, as my Bixby was valiantly fighting the sickness that eventually claimed his life when we took them. I feel like the love between us really comes across in these, and I've always cherished the way looking back at them makes me feel. Love you, Bixby!

Stephen, I realized I missed commenting on your earlier post about Cally, but am glad she is now sharing a post with the Warrior Bixby. Seeing them both makes my heart smile, too.
My friend, Bixby may have had a life that was far too short, but what a life it was.His life was filled with love, and that is so obvious in these pictures. He stole a lot of hearts along the way, including mine, and will never be forgotten.

 

[Anansi]

Awww, thank you, Terr.

 

[Scott]

Here are some Just For Fun entries. These pics have always been particularly special to me, as my Bixby was valiantly fighting the sickness that eventually claimed his life when we took them. I feel like the love between us really comes across in these, and I've always cherished the way looking back at them makes me feel. Love you, Bixby!

The look of love and trust from Bixby leaps off the monitor, Stephen. You were so fortunate to have his powerful spirit between your hands.

 

[Anansi]

Thank you, my friend! I really was fortunate to have him, even for the little time that I did.

 

[Smerft85]

Little miss Dj the day we met her. Asked the store owner about a lavender IRN, and he said that one had found a home, but he showed me this little one, and we ended up with a pair.

Sadly she is going through a terrible molt, and she looks similar to that picture currently with pin feathers everywhere, and she's turned into a rotten little soul, my ear is still scabbed from her taking a nibble about a month ago.

 

[Terry57]

View attachment 23277

Little miss Dj the day we met her. Asked the store owner about a lavender IRN, and he said that one had found a home, but he showed me this little one, and we ended up with a pair.

Sadly she is going through a terrible molt, and she looks similar to that picture currently with pin feathers everywhere, and she's turned into a rotten little soul, my ear is still scabbed from her taking a nibble about a month ago.

She is so precious!!It seems like it was meant to be that she joined your family
Ouch about your ear!

 

[tfw]

When we first brought Kass home, despite the year long research and searching for the perfect breeder, I had a moment of "Uh-oh...I think I made a mistake getting such a large bird as our first bird!" because only my husband could get him out of the cage we brought him home in. Fast forward to a week later, and I caught him falling asleep on his gym. It's not the best video of him but it was certainly the first time we knew he was comfortable enough around us to fall asleep and be vulnerable.

Wasn't sure how to embed this video from flickr, but if you click the image you can view the video.