Budgies FINALLY featured in Cuteoverload.com!

I was so happy to see a budgie photo on cute overload.  Yes, cute overload is anthropomorphic, often to the point of being irritating, there are all kinds of made up words which strike me as a mixture of baby talk and psuedo french-like phrases, and worst of all, it rarely has bird pictures.  I do not recall it ever having a budgie shown (and I visit it almost everyday).  "What?" The gentle reader may well ask.  You bash it and then say you visit it daily?".  Well, yes.  I can intellectually distance myself from it, but I must admit, those adorable, sweet, lovable, and amazingly cute pictures really brighten my day.  Even if I can't relate to all the captions and comments.  I can't paste the picture on blogger for you to admire, but it is worth visiting at the above link.

My biggest regret is that, because I am at a new job and don't dare go to "blogger" while at work, I wasn't able to add comments on the day that this budgie post was posted; which could have brought more budgie fans to this blogsite!

In Budgie Heaven, it's all about the fresh Grass Seed

The texas flock has been greatly enjoying the grasses that I have found growing in the green patches in this urban area near our townhouse (near Medical Center). A very good resource for identifying grasses is: TEXNAT, Texas Natural Resource Center Plant Identification site (geared largely towards which ones are good for grazing cattle, not budgies). My impression is that Houston has swamplands, Louisiana style, to the east, Prairies to the north, marshes to the south, and a bit of desert starting to the west. Rhodes Grass, Hooded Windmill Grass, Bermuda Grass, are among the grasses I have found and fed the budgies. In fact, if I come home from work where I pass through a grassy area named (by me “snake alley”, though none of these eponymous creatures have been sighted there, as it is probably, simply just too damn hot for them too), anyway, if I come home and don’t bring grasses with seeds, they act petulant (squawk, peck at each other, and hop about staring at me with expectation). I would love to find some Barnyard grass, Canada wildrye, or Plains lovegrass, and especially, RAT TAIL SMUT GRASS for them. Those look as if budgies would find them very delicious. There is even some Texas bluegrass; but as a native Kentuckian, I think this is where I would draw the line.

While we were on vacation, we asked a neighbor to feed the budgies. She let her preschoolers feed the budgies ALL the food for the week in about a day and a half; they had so much fun pouring seed out into the bowls (and then the floor of the cage). But, she reassured me, they gave the budgies grasses. Well, she must not know much about birds, or pets, because they just threw grass LEAVES in the cage. Boo went into a serious molt, and we really thought Mary ann was going to make a “celestial final flight”. Her usual voluptuousness was gone, and she was very thin, and had a lot of missing feathers, especially on her head. I am happy to report that with regular seeds/pellets (Eggcite brand) and grasses (WITH SEEDS) from the urban prarie, Mary ann has all her feathers again, is looking back to her usual zaftig self, and Boo has gosy and complete feathers.

When choosing grasses, (note neighbor, this means WITH seeds!), its best to choose them from a non-maintained, non -manicured lawn, as that is less likely to have chemicals such as "chem lawn" treatments, which can poison budgies (or other animals including children, btw). Avoid creosote (telephone poles), also toxic. And wash them, especially if from near a roadway.

M and M (Magoo and Mia)

Good news from the adoptive family. They are enjoying Mia and Magoo (M and M). Magoo has been doing very well with finger sitting. Mia has stopped acting neurotic, and when Magoo is finger sitting, he calls her with a little "chiRRRPP". That, I think, is pretty cute. They didn't rename Magoo "Ringo" so I will call this famiy "the Ringo's" to honor them with a good bird name. Anyway, the Ringo's have been very patient with M and M and working regularly with them. I certainly hope Mia will make progress and not discourage the wondeful Ringos.

The Budgieman

Apparently he is a beloved Busker around London (often seen near the Tate Gallery). His budgies are awfully cute. It makes me wish I had more time to spend working with mine.

Update Mia and Magoo Thrive

We have heard an update from the Adoptive Family (AF) regarding Mia and Magoo (M and M).  Apparently Magoo is doing very well with finger sitting.  Also, amazingly, Mia will sometimes sit on a finger, and perhaps is more likely to do so when Magoo beckons her with a chhiirrrPPP.  That is amazing for timid little Mia!  I am not sure if Magoo is now Ringo, or not-will check on that.  The AF is clearly working regularly with M and M, and it seems to be paying off.  There is an adorable dachshund in the family, who seems a bit excited about the new additions.  But being intelligent, as dachshunds are, he has learned to not bark at them (which in turn got them rather flustered).  This is all very good news.  Whether or not the budgies stay part of the new family may depend a bit on the dachshunds adaption to them.  I was under the impression that dogs and budgies tended to get along well, but of course every dog, and every budgie is different.

Budgies in Texas-Update

The budgies seem to have calmed completely since the move.  They are a bit less active, but that is probably because they are in a darker place than before (the summer palace was quite bright, being basically outdoors).  I have not heard yet from Magoo (Ringo?) and Mia but will let everyone know if I hear anything from the wonderful family who adopted them.  

While walking to work (an urban walk) I (K) pass through a grassy area which I have called "snake alley" although none of the eponymous creatures have yet been seen there.  I have been picking grass seed stalks from there on the way home, and the budgies are clearly thrilled with these.   Sutcliffe is not as aggressive about getting these as the females are, even though I make an effort to distribute these evenly so all can enjoy.

All three seem to have fully recovered from the bad episode of negligent babysitting that occurred while we were out of town (the family caring for the budgies poured all of the food for the week into the food bowls in a single day, and then just threw pieces of grass into the cage after that.  The budgies lost a lot of feathers, especially Mary ann on the top of her head and Sutcliffe around the eyes.  Boo went into a serious molt.  Fortunately Magoo and Mia were spared, possibly because they are the youngest).

Moving Highlights

Sorry to all our gentle blog readers (yes, both of you) for this long hiatus.  However, the move caused some delays in getting online to blog!  

The budgies did well during the packing up phase, mainly because of their location in the "summer palace".  However, a bittersweet moment (for the human flock) occurred when Mia and Magoo were adopted.  The good news is, that we now have a new family which has joined the human flock, especially, several girls who seem very well suited to budgie ownership.  I haven't heard yet if they are enjoying the budgies, but I certainly hope so.  If they don't like the budgies, we offered to take them back.  It was a no risk adoption.  I was rather sad at first to see them go, especially Magoo, who hatched in our house only just this last winter, but I know he will be happy.  He may even be renamed Ringo!

The drive and the stay near Nikko the cat (the latter of whom resides in Louisville) went well, but deserves longer posts in the future.  Pictures will also soon be posted from the trip.   The budgies were very quiet around Nikko, probably instinctually.  In the Prius, while driving, however, they seemed joyous and sang and chirped the entire way, especially if country music was playing, or classical.