ROTFLMAO!! I remember it well. With the addition of a Rose Breasted Grosbeak I have had all the birds you have. I just never had them all at once. I did have several birds come flying out of the fireplace one day which made for some excitement since we had a house with an 'open' design. May I ask where the feline and canine children were when all this was going on? LOL! Sandy

Hi Sandy.

The half of the house where the birds live can be closed off, and is, from the rest of the house where the cats and crazy Daisy wander. So all this entertainment took place in the cat free zone ... living room, dining room, den and one of the bedrooms.

C3D

Oh Chickee, I do love your adventures. Why does my life seem so duullll compared to yours? Maybe I just need your sense of humor ... or patience!

Also ROTFLMAO! I know you have considered its time to let them move out. What's holding 'em back? Other than winter in Ohio?

I gotta start saving these threads, somebody needs to publish them someday! (Certainly NOT without the victim's or the writer's permission!)

Still lol!

"Mike really is an intelligent man but sometimes his Mike-isms take over."

Ain't Man Logic the best??? ;-)

-Proud card carrying member since 1968

the ultimate story teller!!

i was quite entertained up to kramer's entrance of OOOO mike. ok, now i have to hold my sides together!!

I had the same experience FTM had! Chicka, you aren't the only hilarious one in the family. Kramer could be a successful stand-up comedian! He has excellent timing! LMAO!!!!!!

Poor Mr. Card. He's just trying to be handsome. I think Baby Chicky is jealous of his man-beauty. :D

While reading Mike's Ism, I was guilty of thinking, Oh, yeah, good idea with the crickets! Then I read on. Hence the reason I only have one kitty to care for. The animal police won't allow me more. LOL

Brenda

LOL! Man logic? Need I say more?!?!?! :-)

Oh...... If you only knew of the WHOLE cricket story!

Well, here's Mr. Cardinal's history / story so far ......

No. He did not have reservations but there seems to always be room at our Bird-Inn. He is a distinguished fellow, wearing his best bright red suit and crest; Mr. Cardinal was brought in by a police officer to see me almost two weeks ago.

The officer saw the Cardinal in the road and promptly turned around to rescue him from further trauma or death. The Cardinal apparently hit a vehicle and the left side of his face was swollen so much his eye lids were closed. Opening the lids I could see his eye was filled with blood. There are no broken bones but much bruising .

He had a concussion and was lapsing in and out of consciousness ... his noble crested head nodding from time to time as I examined his injuries. He got oxygen to decrease brain swelling due to the concussion, got some steroids in his vein also to help the concussion and shock as well as pain relief. Within 10 minutes he was more alert and I cleaned his face and eye as well as applied some antibiotic ointment to his bruised eye. He got an antibiotic injection too.

After resting for an hour or so he was much better but would move his head to the left periodically. It was almost like a tremor.

I took Mr. Cardinal home and continued him on the oxygen over night. A heating pad was under half of the carrier so he could adjust how warm he wanted to stay. A variety of seeds were offered and he slept on a soft towel over the area with the heating pad.

The next morning he was more alert and ate his seeds and hopped about as Cardinals do. He had NO interest in flying or moving his wings. Too sore I suspect. I stopped the oxygen supplementation for him as his tremor / head movement to the side had stopped. The swelling on his face and eye lid was virtually gone! The blood within the eye chamber remains. That will take time to resolve and get reabsorbed. The big question will be if he can see in this eye.

Later....He is so alert and chipping as he selects from the buffet before him.

" Hmmmm. Should I eat some fruit pellets or the warm baby bird cereal? I do like that warm birdy veggy mix and the sunflower hearts are so delicious. Grapes and blueberries and raspberries are best eaten for dessert because the seeds tend to stick to my beak after I have eaten the fruit. Oh decisions. Decisions!"

He still tends to stay in the area that is warmed by the heating pad although he is in our dining room. He has not met the other residents although he can hear every one. Soon, I am sure, Kramer will have instructed him how to do a 'Wolf Whistle'. LOL!

Mr. Cardinal continued to get his antibiotics and pain medicine by mouth twice a day. He is a very good patient! Very polite! We have VERY high hopes that he will recover fully from his accident and will be able to go back outside.

I tried to contact my avian specialist friend but he was unavailable over the weekend. I called again on Monday and asked him to give him an exam too.

We are truly honoured to have such a distinguished guest here and are very pleased he is doing well.

I have taken some photographs of him with the 35mm camera. Mike's digital camera is still getting repaired. All I can say is that I am so happy I was not the one who knocked it off the kitchen counter! LOL! I won't mention who did it but he is 48 years old, 6.0 ft. tall and bought the camera for himself.

I am happy to report that Mr. Cardinal continues to improve very rapidly! He is alert, tilts his head ever so slightly when he hears the doves or Kramer or whoever from the aviary and has a very good appetite! He does still stay at the warmer end on the carrier that has the heating pad. I have kept Mr. Cardinal in the carrier because it is a little darker for him and less light to irritate his injured eye.

Mr. Cardinal's eye still has blood inside but it appears to be clotted and the amount is getting smaller.

He moves his wings a little as he appears more comfortable.

Mr. Cardinal is at the top of the priority list now and all his needs were attended to before anyone else gets breakfast! LOL! We all understand that he is a priority.

~SIGH~ Most times it is NOT a good thing to be at the top of the priority list! That means you have a *REAL* problem ... but he's doing so much better!

The following afternoon I could hear him making the typical Cardinal chipping sounds. And he continues to do this even if someone is in the room with him! He is very alert and busy hopping about and deciding if to eat the warm foods, the seed mix, the nut mix or the fruits. I gave him some mealworms too this morning but am not sure if they will interest him.

He still had a little swelling in the lower corner of his left eye and there seems to be less blood in the eye itself. I made an appointment for him to be more thoroughly examined by the avian veterinarian. We saw him last Tuesday morning.

Although Mr. Cardinal is getting stronger daily he still does like to be warmer so I adjusted the position of the heating pad so it covers the entire bottom of his carrier. There is a thick soft towel on top of it so there is no danger of his feet getting hot or burned. His water cup hangs on the door of the carrier so it will stay cool. Now he bounces the entire length of the carrier and seems so much more content and comfortable.

Mr. Cardinal and I went to see the avian veterinarian last Tuesday morning. I can easily say he was the most popular patient there. EVERYONE wanted to see him. It is rare to see someone so special up close.

In general all is progressing well with the Cardinal. The big issue is his left eye. There is still a slight swelling at the bottom corner of his eye lid. The eye itself has some blood inside and the retina cannot be seen completely. The avian vet suspects there might be damage like a partial detachment of the retina or a tear.

If there is damage to the retina it cannot be surgically repaired and that would mean he could not be released. He would become hawk food quickly upon release if his vision was impaired. But I'm jumping the gun a bit here and thinking the worst. I'm supposed to keep doing what I'm doing for Mr. Cardinal but change his eye medication to one with steroids to help decrease the inflammation in the eye. He will get re-examined in three weeks to get a better view of his eye.

Mr. Cardinal is a little underweight at 41 grams rather than the typical 47-48 grams. He's eating well so maybe he'll chunk out by the time he gets his re-check. He is more active today than yesterday. He greets me by making his little Cardinal chipping sounds as he hops about. He still is being kept warmer with the heating pad. He gets his antibiotic by mouth twice a day and his eye ointment twice daily.

He continues to be active and is very energetic. I have NO DOUBT that he wants to leave captivity. I apologize to him each time I visit him for having him in jail ... but he needs to recover from his accident. I don't think he believes me.

He is eating very well and chirping often. The Ring-neck Dove, Baby Chicky looks in on him too. I took Mr. Cardinal out yesterday morning to treat his eye. He does not seem as thin as he was earlier. As I put him back in the carrier, I took out his water dish and he took off! He was wandering about the living room for about 20 minutes.

He could not fly.

He hopped about and gains as much altitude as he can with a good hop. He flaps his wings but there is no height to his efforts. We have a House Sparrow with some abnormal feathers. The wing and tail feathers are white and the main shaft is crooked. The feathers themselves are so brittle they literally turn to powder when touched. He is not releasable because of this yet he gains more altitude (8 inches) than does Mr. Cardinal!

Maybe he is still sore and bruised from his run-in with the car and needs more time to heal?

Oh ....... I could just cry if he can't go back to the wild. I was worried about his eye and now this!

But .........

Mr. Cardinal took off the following afternoon after his treatment.

WooooooooooooooHooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He Flies!!!!!

WooooooooooooooHooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is also VERY DIFFICULT to catch! LOL!

I'll letcha know how he progresses!

Happily....... C3D
_________________
~~Worry not that no one knows you. Seek to be worth knowing.~~

"Man logic? Need I say more?!?!?! "

It's a thing, you wouldn't understand!!!

I think I need to print that on some T-Shirts! ;-)

"WooooooooooooooHooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"He Flies!!!!!

"WooooooooooooooHooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Amen, sister. Holy cardinal, that was one wonderful story, Chicka!! *sniffle*

Can't wait to hear more on his improving condition. *nose blow*

Brenda

I'm glad to hear Mr. Cardinal has overcome the concussion at last. If I haven't already, I'll tell you sometime about our Pheasant in the furnace room. You definitely need an aviary. May I suggest fresh cherries and blueberries. One item I found to be very helpful when calming a panic stricken or angry bird was an apron with a pocket lined with quilt batting or soft flannel. They would quickly settle in and nap for a while and I could continue with my work. I got that one from a baby duck that thought I was momma. Sandy

Hmmm. FTM? I think YOU are the ultimate story teller here! Your stories are so great to read!

Semper? LOL @ your shirt! Yes. I don't understand the XY thing most times but I have become very good at recognizing it through the years. I thought the cricket thing was a Mike thing. It's a
thing? LOL!!! You know the cricket story, I think .... Would you have let some crickets loose in *YOUR* home? :-)

Hi Brenda. Mr. Cardinal is a happy camper. Well, as happy as he can be in jail here. He does love Apple Jacks cereal!

Thanks Sandy. I calm Baby Chicky with cuddles and sometimes I place him under a hand towel with his head sticking out. He seems to be content then. Mr. Cardinal does like cherries, blueberries, strawberries and Kung Fu Yum cooked bird food by Krazy Korn along with seeds, nuts and fruit pellets.

We have an aviary but Mr. Cardinal is not there. Since he's a wild bird, and just brought in, if he had some disease that is contagious we wouldn't want everyone to be exposed.

He has an appointment two Tuesdays from now to recheck his eye.

C3D

you flatter me, chicka! so great to hear a history and update on mr. union suit :) btw, you are making me hungry.

i fell for the crickets, as well. sometimes my blonde hairs are a bit gullible. i do wonder how many crickets have scaled my frogs' abode (only to be met by many spiders). so, does the cotton batting give adequate kevlar effect from those spurs?

sandy, would love to hear about your pheasant/angry bird scenario :)

Rather than intrude on Chickie I'll start another post. I'm sure there are some wonoderful and/or funny stories about our contacts with the wildlife. Sandy

The flannel or batting in the pocket is just to mold the shape of the nest pocket and hold the bird without a lot of pressure. The pocket should be close to your heart for best results. Your heartbeat is much slower than a bird's and so it has a calming effect and the materials hold heat to keep baby warm.

Ahh, chickie, what would the birds do without you? I would love to train to become a bird rehabber but there's that work thing getting in the way again.

I did witness something the other day that amazed me. A chickadee had a glancing blow with our bump-out, it didn't knock him out but it stunned him. I watched as he flew in circles for a minute and then dropped to the ground. I was watching from the window, debating whether it would stress it more for me to approach it, or for it to lay on the cold ground (I've always heard to keep stunned birds warm until they recover). Another chickadee lands on top of it and starts to nudge him. At first I thought he was going to start pecking but it was more gentle than that. He begins his little distress call and starts jumping around on the ground in circles around the downed chickadee. He hops to a nearby branch and then immediately hops down and starts the nudging again, doing his distress call the whole time. He kept this up for several minutes and then, suddenly, the downed chickadee jumps up and they fly off together. It was so heartbreaking to watch the two of them and then so heart warming to see them fly off together. I had no idea that mates would watch out for each other like that.

Awwww. How sweet! Great observation Jean! I hope they gave him something for his headache when he got home. :-) I think they care for each other on their own birdy level.

One of the most important things is to keep who ever is injured warm. Their internal thermostat may be disabled from the trauma or shock and they do need external warmth to help them through the most critical time. That was true for Bub, the Grackle, Kramer, .... and all the rest.

I've had Mr. Cardinal over 2 weeks and he still wants to be in the part of the carrier that is warmed by the heating pad although externally he looks fairly well recovered. (The eye injury is still in question.) Soooo he must still have internal thermostat issues. He'll get moved to larger living quarters tomorrow.

I *hate* it in the spring time when there are sooo many robins hit by cars on the road. And there usually isn't just one but two. Either one male was chasing another and both were hit or a robin is hit and the mate comes to investigate and gets hit too. I have picked up at least 6 robins that way and released after variable times at home.

Rehabbing is great! Not much income from an opossum or sparrow. Lots of money lost with caring for gulls and owls! But ... Being able to help someone who otherwise would not have made it and then release them again is ~*~*priceless*~*~

After I wrote about our bizarre (normal) morning I was vacuuming the potting soil from the carpeting and generally un-shamble-ising the home. I then soaked some dry dog food in warm water and set it out for my Starling friends. Within minutes there were Starlings arriving for their lunch.

Suddenly they all scattered and I heard a few hit the window. Naturally I went outside to make sure no one was hurt. There, in the snow, was a Cooper's Hawk with a pudgy Starling under him! The Hawk got startled and flew away leaving a stunned Starling in the snow.

I went over and picked him up. I saw no injuries on him, which surprized me. Probably surprized the Starling too. After maybe a minute or two the Starling regained his wits and I let him go. He flew a few feet and landed in a fir tree. He sat there for 10 minutes ... probably waiting for his blood pressure to go back to normal ... and then he left.

Poor Hawk though. Maybe he's a youngster and not a very good hunter yet. He was beautiful!

Yep. Just another typical day here.

C3D

sleep with your eyes open tonight, chicka :)

beautiful chickadeee tale, jeanner. we would have never known that if you went out there, and it was oh so hard not to.

Wow, Jean, great story!!

And another happy ending from Chicka! Well, from the starling's point of view, anyway. :)

"Your heartbeat is much slower than a bird's..."

If I had a little birdie in my pocket, I'm not sure if that would be the case. LOL I can just see you walking around with your apron full of chickie, Sandy. Love that image! :D

Brenda

Mr. Cardinal and I went to see the avian specialist this morning. He was also examined by an ophthalmologist. It isn't good news, I'm afraid. There is significant scar tissue causing a haze in his left eye. There is a partial detachment of the retina and damage to the optic nerve. When examined, Mr. Cardinal does not appear to have any light reflexes in his left eye.

Essentially he is blind in that eye.

Both doctors feel he would not be able to escape predators like cats or hawks well with limited vision. He is too nice to be eaten. He is not considered releasable. There is nothing more to do for his eye. There is a slight, ever so slight, chance he will get some vision back over time but it would be unlikely that he would have good vision.

We are to have another eye exam in a month.

There is still just a little bit of a blood clot still resolving in the eye. That just goes to show how severe his impact with the car was some 3-4 weeks ago.

He may also get seizures at any time as a result of the severity of his accident.

Rather than be eaten he is now sentenced to a life of imprisonment through no fault of his own. How I cried when I got him home! (I am VERY good at that XX task.)

But .... He is now officially "ours" and we can officially spoil him rotten. We had been unofficially spoiling him until now. He'll likely go to live at a nature center after he is fully recovered and needs no further examinations.

Here's a picture of Mr. Cardinal the day after he came to live with us:

{{gwi:163330}}

Oh I'm so sorry CD3! But thru your efforts (and Mike's) he's alive and if he can eventually live freely in a habitat without predators (like a nature center) AND can help educate kids, it' far better than the alternative.

He's beautiful, sigh...

Oh, my goodness, he's so handsome. Poor little guy! I would wish comfort and lots of spoiling for him, now and in his future, and it sounds like he's getting plenty of both. I have no worries about him, because he's with you and Mike, Chicka, the best place he could be until fit to do otherwise. *HUGS*

Brenda

Ahh, it's breaking my heart too, they are such sweet birds. But, as already mentioned, he is so lucky to have you. I worry so about my yard birds, I can only imagine what it would be like after having one in my home and caring for it.

Thank-you C3D for all you do for our fine feathered friends.

So how is Mr. Red doing? I think of him whenever I hear the cardinals who are already singing their love songs.

Hi.

Mr. Cardinal, now named Giovanni, is doing very well. Today was the first day we heard him sing the full Cardinal song. How sweet is that from INSIDE the house first thing in the morning? :-)

Here's a picture of him in our living room on that infamous day. He's under our piddoly live Christmas tree, a Cedar of Lebanon. Sorry he's a bit out of focus but he wasn't much for striking a pose. LOL!

{{gwi:163331}}

you'll be printing your own christmas cards soon, chicka!

Giovanni is SO delicious! I'd love to hear a cardinal song! Live would be better, but I'll search online to get a taste of it. :)

Brenda

Here you go. They all have their our individual variations though. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: N. American Bird songs

Awwww. Thanks FTM. He almost looks like an ornament that fell from the tree doesn't he?

Only Christmas Tree in America that has ornaments that poop! LOL!

LOL @ ornaments that poop!!!

He's not only beautiful to look at, but to hear, as well! What a loverly.

The last page in this month's National Geographic reminded me of the Camp Nappy Clinic. I just had to share. :)

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: Canary Care

Awwww. That was a great link! *sniff* :-)

Ya just never know what's going to happen here.

I love your stories chickadeedeedee:-)-----------bonnie

Hi Bonnie. Thanks. Glad you were able to come over here for a visit. :-) Wish the stories were made up but (Lord help me!) they're true! LOL!

Maybe I'll post the chimney swift on going drama sometime this week. **************

Hi all.

Bonnie is a very nice person from the Bluebird and Birdwatching forums.

Hi, Bonnie! Great to see another Camp Nappy fan! :)

Oh, dear....did you say, "Drama," Chicka?? Nawww, not at YOUR house! We need more CNN (Camp Nappy News)!!! :D

Brenda

Hi Brandy. LOL! And here I thought CNN was the Communist News Network. (Right Semper?)

Lemme see ... The tale of the Grand-crabs? Carolina Wren adventures? A tale of toads? Daisy Diaries? Chimney Swift Invasion? Olive's Story? You're right! No drama here.

I'll find something to cure your insomnia I'm sure. :-)

3DChick

Hi Brenda, I am a big Camp Nappy fan and think chickadee is just the greatest. But may i ask why its called Camp Nappy? I have missed that part somewhere. Chickadeedeedee ,i hope you are keeping these stories and you are going to turn them into memoirs. (Hope i spelled that right.) The care and compassion you feel is obvious and very touching and i can feel it as if i were right there with you and see it with my own eyes. How wonderful and special you are and thanks for sharing it with us :-) Bonnie

Hi Bonnie.

Why Camp Nappy? I believe the full title is: Camp Nappy Resorts and Recreation Center Birdy Bed and Breakfast Rehabilitation Center. I'm sure there's more. LOL!

Our *very* good friend, Semper Fi, gave my husband Mike, the title of Sir Nappy so it was just an evolution of our home becoming Camp Nappy etc., etc....

Thank you soooo much for your kind words. Like I told the snotty BB people, I treat them all with the same compassion and respect, even if they will come back to eat my birds or whatever once they are released. LOL! NO ONE challenged me about my post! LOL! :-)

C3D

Probably scared to, you would put them back in place real quick :-) I told you i liked you spirit and could tell you were intelligent by the way you spoke ( typed LOL ). Do you have bluebirds this year chickadee? How have they done, did you get many babies? We have had a lot of red bellied woodpeckers and (downy or hairy) woodpeckers. I cant tell those two apart. I dont know where they nested but it was wonderful to see. Especially when they brought their babies and the little ones were kind of crazy and flying around in circles. LOL So funny :-)-------bonnie

"Chickadeedeedee ,i hope you are keeping these stories and you are going to turn them into memoirs."

Amen, sister! I'd like to officially pre-order mine now. :D

Brenda

Hi Bonnie.

I don't have bluebirds but we have just about everything else nesting here: Ruby-throated Hummers (2 nests), Downy WPs, Flickers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Creepers, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Grackles, Starlings,Robins, Red-Winged Blackbirds, House Wren, Carolina Wren, White crowned Sparrows, House Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Vespers Sparrows, Chimney Swifts (2 nests), House Finch, Purple Finch, Goldfinch, Baltimore Orioles, Mourning Doves, Blue Jay, Cardinals. There's also the Turkey Vultures in the area as well as the Herons, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Ring-billed Gulls, Egrets, Crows and Screech Owls. I'm sure there's someone I forgot to mention.

I'll e mail you a copy Branda. The title: Insomnia No More

:-)

Chickadee! All those birds nested in you yard! My gosh you must have a forest for so many birds to nest. I think i will pass out now.*_* Okay im back. My goodness where did all the little ones nest? I know we have a lot of ruby throated hummers but i have never seen a nest except in pictures. WOW We have these birds visit our yard and feeders but only robin, mockingbird,titmouse, cardinal,bluebird and some kind of native sparrows have nested here. I dont know if it was a chipping sparrow, song sparrow, or fox sparrow but it has had four nests already and the little babies are like roadrunners. Apparently they nest on the ground and every now and then i blow one out of a bush by accident with the water hose! Of course i feel extremely bad and get the little one and put him back after apologising but they need to put a sign out. ( BABIES HERE DO NOT SPRAY! ) If they would just pick one bush and nest there then i would know but they keep moving around on me and dont tell me and then i blow the babies out again. The little babies are so cute and they say "zeep" "zeep" and run around. I have know idea what kind of sparrows they are but i LOVE them :-) They make my heart happy.----------bonnie

Hmmmm. The Hummers nest in the American Red Cedar and in the quince. The Downy WPs and the Flickers nest in two huge Weeping Willows. The White-breasted Nuthatch and Creepers are in the Willow and an ancient pear tree. My dear little Black-capped Chickadees are in a natural cavity in a cluster of old crabapple trees. The Common Grackles made a nest in the Blue Atlas Cedar and a crabapple tree in the front yard.
The Starlings nest in an old bird house my father made many years ago.

The Robins nest in the bend of the gutter under the eaves of the house at the corner next to our bedroom. Red-Winged Blackbirds are off in a part of the garden we have not mowed on purpose. The House Wren was in a nest box in the Tri-coloured Beech tree. The Carolina Wrens nested in the holly bush in the front yard under the kitchen window, also in a nest box (or two in the back), under an over turned bucket on the patio and under a flower pot near the compost pile.

We have 20-25 nest boxes of many varieties hanging everywhere too.

White crowned Sparrows are in the honeysuckle vines. My little House Sparrows are in several of the nest boxes. The Cedar Waxwings are nesting in a Blue Spruce in the front yard. The Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows and Vespers Sparrows are in the Blue Spruce trees, Passionflower vines, clematis and honeysuckle vines. Chimney Swifts (2 nests) in our two chimneys.

The House Finch and Purple Finch are in the wisteria and magnolia tree. The Goldfinch usually make their nests in the Red Bud tree and Willows. The Baltimore Orioles are in the Willows and Silver Maple Trees. The Mourning Doves put three sticks together in the American Red Cedar and called it a nest. LOL! The Blue Jay is in the Cottonwood tree and the Cardinals are in the Blue Atlas Cedar.

The other guys ... the Turkey Vultures, the Herons, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Ring-billed Gulls, Egrets, Crows and Screech Owls are guests but not nesting on our property.

LOL! They DO need to put a sign out. Caution Baby on Board! LOL! :-)

Wow Chickadeedeedee i want to come visit and stare at all your birdies. You do have a forest! LOL
I just cant think of anything else to say but WOW *_*

Im speechless ,my family would be amazed :-)