LOL!!! @ Olive! Well, a lady's gotta do what a lady's gotta do, I guess. Personally, after reading all of the descriptions of Barry, I don't blame her. He's a stud muffin! LOL!!

SO glad to hear he's holding strong with the eye pressure readings! Woohoo!!

Brenda

LOL at Olive! I wonder what their offspring would look like! Gee, I don't remember seeing Olive's picture - did I miss that one???? (hint, hint)

WOnderful news about Barry!

I keep meaning to ask you about the cherries you serve, do you cut them up or serve ala seed??

LOL! Olive *really* needs a date!!!!!!!!!!!! Hmmmmmm. Maybe we should look for a Mr. Oliver?!?!? On the other hand ... do we ~need~ more babies? NOPE!

Barry get his fruits chopped up. It's easier to swallow that way plus there is less waste. If the grapes, apricots, banana, mango, peaches, melon, strawberries and cherries are left whole (and sometimes the blueberries) they are tossed aside and not eaten. The raspberries and blackberries are left whole as they are easily broken apart. Miss Olive gets her cherries, grapes, strawberries and blueberries whole. Her apples and pears are cut into slices.

Daisy (the Blue Jay) and Bub (the Grackle) and Kramer (the Starling) ((and the Sugar Gliders)) get their food chopped up like we do for Barry. Didja ever see one of those ~behind the scenes~ episodes of a zoo .... where there are bowls and bowls of assorted fruits and stuff? That's US every day. LOL! :-)

You have not met Olive? Well here she is..... {{gwi:135040}}

Here's the whole official welcoming committee..... {{gwi:167940}}

Olive, Kramer and Baby Cheeky ... the deranged Ring-necked Dove. LOL!!!!!!

OMG! We are really abnormal!!! x 13!

You guys are my heros!! I've always wanted to be one of those behind the scenes people, who not only get to (have to?) prepare the food, but they get to feed the animals, too! Of course, I always wanted to be Dr. Doolittle, too, so....yeah, I'm not right in the head. LOL

Big ol' smooches for Olive & Co.! I didn't know you had a blue jay, too!!! Daisy? Where have I heard that name before....? :D

Brenda

Daisy, the BJ, was here for a year or more before Daisy, the one and only crazy doggy appeared. The BJ was named that when we got her. But that's yet another story. LOL!

OY!!! A Barry boy update ... :-)
FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS!!!

I took Barry to the ophthalmologist today. We have not given him the eye drops for 5 days and thought it best to have a proper evaluation.

Barry has NORMAL light reflexes in both eyes. :-)

The edema / swelling / blood in his left eye have resolved. :-)

Both eyes appear 113% normal. :-)

Most importantly is the pressure in the right eye is 22 and in the left is 28! :-) The pressure in the left was slightly higher due to the stress of being held. In reality the pressure is likely about 5 points lower.

Barry doesn't need the eye drops any more. :-)

Either way ... Barry is now released into our large free flight area (23 ft. x 9 ft. x 10 ft.) and can regain his flight strength and hopefully his feathers. And to think the ophthalmologist had suggested to kill him some months earlier because of his eye injury! Eeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!!!!!! I'll letcha know how the tail situation progresses. It's just a matter of time now for our dear little Barry. C with 3Ds and a Happy Barry!

Very, Very Good News indeed. Bet he will love the free flight area. All that loving care paid off for Dear Barry. Glenda

LOL Glenda.

Wish we knew how to post a video of Barry bouncing around and singing at his new limited freedom. He is very much a happy Nappy Camper. Frustrated though because he can't go free yet. He doesn't / can't gain altitude because his tail is missing. Yes he and we are enjoying his next step to freedom. :-) x 13!

Oh, that is SUCH wonderful news, Chicka, hostess extraordinaire of Camp Nappy!!! I wish I could give Barry some of my extra tail. :D

Would love to see Barry bouncing around the large flight area!! I'm just so happy for him!!! And I'm so thankful you didn't give up on him! :) X 13.

Brenda

You've done it again Miss Chicky ... and Barry too of course. What a great day for all at Camp Nappy! I hope he gets his tail back in time for the big migration so he can join his fellow robin-airs!

I don't know how I missed the pictures of Olive ... but what a fine looking lady! Love the head "tilt" - I can just imagine her winking at all the "pretty boys"!!!!

Well ... Lemme tell you I was *thoroughly* interrogated by Miss Olive.

Where the pretty birdy?

~He's fine. He's in the flight area.~

OoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo! WHERE THE BIRDY?!?!

~He's with Bub.~

Bub! Bub! Bub!

~If you *need* to see Barry, I'll take you for a visit.~

You are? OooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo! Pretty Birdy, Sweetheart!

LOL! I knew she was in lust with Barry but now I know ... He's her Sweetheart! :-)

So Olive went for a visit and screamed at him: WHERE WEEEEEEEERRRRRRRE YOU????????HiiiiIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiii! Hi Sweetheart! Followed by the sound of kisses being given. She seemed *very* happy to see Barry and be re-assured that he hasn't left her. We'll try to explain the facts of life / wildlife to her in the coming days.

LOL!!!! Oh, MAN, I love Olive! The sound of kisses! So sweet.

Hey, message #112 here. You should get the honor of posting message #113, Chicka! :D

Brenda

Hiya Brenda.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. You found the ~13~ connection thingy didn't you? :-)

Mike was laughing when Olive scolded Barry for not coming home! I thought ... Awwww. Poor Barry. Here he thought he was free of his huge green significant other. LOL!

DANG! She found me!

((In spite of what Olive may have wanted ... it wasn't a conjugal visit.))

That's hilarious!! It's like one of those nightmare relationships for Barry. Are there stalking laws in Ohio? :D

I can see Olive's take on it, though. Barry's worth stalking, even if she can't get no satisfaction. LOL

Any new eggs lately? :D

Brenda

I don't see any sign of tail feathers yet. :-(

Barry and Bub and getting along fine. There were 12 Robins on the patio this morning. I felt so sorry that Barry couldn't go out any join them yet but promised him that he WILL be leaving just as soon as his tail grows back.

Barry has been singing all day today. The first time since he moved into the free flight. :-)

Really, really good for the heart, bird or human. Thanks for sharing, Chickie. Sandy

Oops. Sorry Brenda. Forgot to answer your question. No more eggs from Olive. She seems content paying a visit to Barry's place once or twice a day. I don't know if there's anti-stalker laws here. If not they should make some guidelines and name it Barry's Law. :-)

We *always* have dove eggs (Ring neck doves) and the Orange Weaver Finches may start nesting next month. The Cockateils had another clutch of eggs but somehow the eggs were damaged during the changing of the guard for incubation. I think they've decided to give it a rest for now.

Hi Sandy. Howz things with you?

Barry, no pressure or anything, but maybe give a good squeeze or something, get those tail feathers going. You're almost there, dude! Just one more hurdle...just one more...

LOL!! @ Barry's Law! I'm so glad Olive gets to visit him daily. As much as he probably hates to admit it, he's going to miss that gorgeous dame when he's gone, I just know it. There's Something About Olive!

Brenda

Can you believe it? More good news from this side.

Barry is molting. He's looking rather scruffy and moth-eaten at the moment but hopefully he'll be covered with bright new feathers and be on his way with his friends soon. I don't know how long a Robin's molt takes but will keep an eye on his progress and perhaps we can refrain from putting Rogaine on his rump. :-O

LOL...Rogaine...haha! But good news! Can we have a photo of the molted/molting (or is that molten?) Barry?

Has Olive noticed the 'change'?

:) Sarah

Thats great news! When he is ready to go south, send him my way and I will be sure he gets his cherries!

I noticed tonight that the titmice are also molting ... unfortunately that means summer is almost over :^(

Olive loves her Barry-boy-toy no matter how he looks on the outside. HiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiii Sweetheart! How you doing? *kisses!!!!!* She loves him for who he is on the inside. :-)

I think Barry will miss his green girl friend too ... although he'll likely be haunted by dreams of her for years.

I'll try to get a decent photo of the molten Barry. He IS a wild bird and is very anxious to get away from people. When we're around he's an almost constant moving target.

Barry loves his cherries and blueberries. The little dried up cranberries that are in some seed mixes are great too. Don't forget the bowl of worms and waxworms too when Barry stops by your home, Jean.

Barry arrives at Jean's home and is instantly recognized from his mug shots. Knowing the secret code words Jean runs outside with the all too familiar green greeting of: "Wheeeerrrrrreeeeeee weeeerrrrreeeeee youuuuuuuuuuu?????????"
:-)

How is Mr. Barry doing? Is he getting his tail feathers in?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Mr. Barry was caught on Sunday to see the progress. NO SIGN of butt feather growth! :-(

We'll give him some more time before we purchase Rogaine.

Do you know if the tail feathers are the last to molt? I couldn't find anything on it. Heres a dumb question - are you serious about the Rogaine????

A friend of mine says it can take a full two months for the molt to be complete in a Robin. I don't know where the tail regrowth fits in the schedule.

To use a dab of Rogaine is just a joke. We'd never use something in or on Barry that has not been proven safe. Sorry that point wasn't more clear.

Some of the other inmates are begining their molt too.

Feather covered me

Barry, I have a bunch of barn owl feathers I've collected from the yard (from "my" babies before they deserted me!). I would be happy to send them to you, in case you need backup. :D

Brenda

Oh dear C3D, I didn't mean to suggest you would ever do anything that would be harmful, I know better than that! I'm just always amazed at some of the human treatments that are used on birds and animals so I thought maybe rogaine worked on feathers too! Heck I don't even know if it works on humans!

Jean - the medically challenged!

Oy, Miss Jean! That didn't come out as intended. Sorry! The Rogaine is a joke and we sure don't know if it would work. We sure don't need to give another inmate treatments here. The Pilocarpine eye drops never stated as a side effect that rump feathers would not re-grow either. Go figure. LOL! We're not even sure that's why his feathers have not re-grown. Time will tell I guess. :-)

Brenda, thanks for the Marvin family feathers offer. At one of the wildlife rehab thingies I went to ... I did learn the art of imping where one actually grafts a new feather onto the shaft of a broken wing or tail feather ... usually a Raptor. Red Wing Hawk to Red Wing Hawk, Great Horned Owl to GH Owl and so on. I know many rehab places will save road-kill raptors or others who have died to have a source of feathers to replace for those more fortunate.

Problem with Barry is he has no feather shafts in his rump to attach a new feather. Their feather shafts are different from Raptors in that they have no barbs to hold them firmly in the skin. The songbird feathers are designed for a quick release if a kitty (or Daisy) should pounce on them. Their chances for escape are better.

I'd need to jab the feathers into Barry's bottom like sticking needles into a pin cushion! YIKES! x 13! Maybe we could fashion a butt toupe? Olive is molting and I'm sure she'd love Barry to wear her feathers! LOL!

Migraine Me

LOL!! Hey, that's cool about the feather grafts, though! Obviously, not an option for Barry....however, the buttdress (a la Sitting Bull, only BUTTer) just might work! Barry Tatonka, here we come.

Brenda

Hi I just wandered in and fell in love with the Barry story. C3D you are quite the writer! I just wanted to tell you that if your digital camera takes movies (most all of them do) you can download the clip to your computer and then post it on You tube for free. http://www.youtube.com/, I'm not an expert but did manage to put a few up and if I can do it you for sure can. I would LOVE to see videos of your critters....Especially Olive talking! Can't seem to embed the video on here but you can put a link to it, I included mine just to make sure it works (please excuse quality as I said I AM not good at it)...LOL Cudos for your fantasic work with these wonderful animals.
pegs video

Oh My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I caught Barry not 10 minutes ago and ... Our dearest Barry has his tail feathers growing back in!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I honestly have tears of joy streaming down my face as I type this!!!!!!

Will they be back in time for an Autumn release? I don't know but ...... at least we now know Barry will eventually be homeward / wild-ish bound!

Awe, that is the bestest news ever. Hope whatever is best for Barry happens. You have certainly done well by him. He couldn't have in better hsnds. Glenda

WOOHOO!!! *happy tears here, too!!!* I'm SO happy for you all!!! I knew you could do it, Barry, you little stud muffin!

Oh, man, I can imagine how the tears are going to flow on the day of his release....

Brenda

That is fantastic news! It's been a long haul for poor Barry. But I would think he will make it for the fall migration - the robins haven't even started flocking here and even then they will be around for quite sometime.

Awwww. Barry, so glad you don't have to wear a "Butt Rug"!

Barry:

You go boy!!!!!!!!

Jenny

I know this doesn't look like much but it is the start of Barry's freedom! His tail feathers are growing slowly but surely! Photo was taken this afternoon (Sunday). All of him is looking a bit scruffy as his moult continues.
{{gwi:167942}}

I never thought I'd think that a robin's tail feathers could be so BEAUTIFUL!

Our Barry-boy doesn't seem distressed about being here ... unless I'm trying to catch him to photograph his rump. LOL! He seems very content at our Birdy Bed and Breakfast. I'm more concerned about him being able to leave before it gets too cold. Some migrate south and some don't but either way it would be nice for him to have some good weather time outside to adjust to freedom again.

Since he isn't overly anxious to leave we'll see how quickly his feathers come in and take it from there. We certainly won't attempt to rush a release and have him in trouble again. We'll try to do what is in his best interest and safety. We never celebrated Christmas with a Robin. Maybe this year .......... ?

But ... at least we KNOW he will one day go free. The time is up to him and God. They know what is best for our dear long time guest.

I guess you don't recommend I give a ~gentle~ tug on the feathers to get them to grow faster? Eeeeeekkkkkk!

Kidding. Just kidding! :-)

Letcha know how our Barry-boy progresses.

NO NO, no tugs.LOL Maybe a little more Rogaine though. Or some Ivory Soap..Well that's another story. Glenda

My case has gone before the Parole Board today.

I have been a model prisoner. Led an exemplary inmate life. No screaming. No banging of ration bowls. No fighting with the other inmates. Nothing.

My tail feathers were gone but it was NOT my fault! Can I help it that my manliness ... my high testosterone levels gave me temporary male rump baldness? The visits from my green other half sufficiently suppressed the testosterone so my tail did start to re-grow.

Alas it was too little. Too late. PAROLE DENIED

I have been imprisoned since April and now it is October. The Parole Board unanimously think I may not have the time to acclimate to freedom before the real Ohio weather hits. I would be susceptible to pneumonia with the cold weather and rain abruptly hitting my system after being pampered, uhh ... I mean ... kept in confinement all these months. The fear is I would immediately violate the terms of parole and I would be imprisoned almost immediately.

There will be another Parole Board hearing in the Spring, when the skies are sunny, the winds are calm, the temperature is warmer, the relatives are abundant and the worms are nearer the surface. Until then I remain at the Camp Nappy Compound. CRAP!

The worms will make a break for it tonight. I will help them get as far as they can to the door. Crawl free nightcrawler. (*FLING*) Crawl free! (*FLING!*)(*FLING!*)

The smaller human will have her hair standing on end tomorrow morning. I *love it* when she does that!

HeeeeHeeeeeHeeeeeeeeeee! Captivity isn't so bad after all.

Barry

Well, Barry Boy the Warden..I mean parole board does know best. I wouldn't be surprised if the green other half didn't have something to do with this also. Now you get to spend those cold winter days in a warm invironment and we all get to hear more Barry stories to keep us occupied all winter. And in the spring when the Red Red Robins come bob, bob, bobbing along, you will get your freedom. So until then be sure to keep us intertained with your life at Camp Nappy adventures.

Hi Glenda.

Yeah ... We suspected that Barry-boy missed the boat with the late tail re-growth. The avian specialist also thinks at this point he's just better off hanging out inside with us rather than risking the weather and getting sick with pneumonia. Then, if we were lucky ... we would find a very sick Barry outside, try to recapture him and bring him back to health and release in the Spring.

We all decided to just skip that nasty middle ~getting very sick~ part of the scenerio and just keep him until Spring. I told Miss Olive that we will be keeping Barry until Spring.

You ARE?!?!? *kisses* *kisses* *kisses* Where the birdy? Where the Sweetheart? *kisses* *kisses* *kisses*

Christmas with Barry. I know what (who!) Olive wants as a present! LOL!!!

Barry are you throwing the worms around because you'd rather have your cherries and blueberries and they are hard to come by this time of the year? Or are you just trying to have a little fun? What are your winter time ideal fruits and food besides the worms? Glenda

Hello Glenda.

Regarding the nightcrawlers, the best and tastiest ones, I find, are always on the bottom. I need to clear out the crowd to get to these more choice morsels. Having an enjoyable game of worm-toss breaks up the monotony of not having to dodge cats or be on the look-out for hawks. We do have toys, like several lattice balls with a bell inside each one. After a good feed, and poop, Bub and I will have a few rounds with the bells or some of the gifts Olive gave us.

The Red Robin Cross has ensured that I am getting cherries daily. The daily rations change but cherries and blueberries are always provided. Cherries, blueberries, strawberries, cactus fruit (YUMMY treat), raspberries, pear, apples, assortment of grape varieties, apricot, banana, plum, peaches, watermelon, honeydew melon. There has also been several offerings of the fruit from the Mountain Ash tree, crabapples and when available holly berries. Bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts sometimes garnish the rations.

The cooked pasta dishes are very welcome. (Did I say that?) It is a mix of pastas, cookd veggies and fruit that is also provided for Olive and the other captives. Krazy Korn I believe is the product. There is another warm cereal mix that Bub enjoys eating but I find it a pleasant foot warmer.

The mealworms and wax worms seem to be of equal quality and one doesn't need to get to the ones on the bottom first. They are all delicious and placed in several ration bowls so we all get our fill without competition.

Olive mentioned I was looking a little round a while ago but since I have been working out I have trimmed up a little and am looking good. She even whistled the other day when she saw me. She is quite the hen! I have told her a match between up would not work but she has her hopes.

Gotta go and throw some worms out. The small human should be here soon.

Thanks for your concern, Glenda. Are you with the Red Cross or the Red Robin Cross?

Barry

Is Red Robin Cross like the Red Cross? Glenda

Yes. Bird Division. :-)

How does one become a member of the Red Robin Cross? Glenda

Hi Glenda.

You need to become deranged like me and think up odd things to post like me. The Robin Red Cross exists only in my tiny Chickadeex3 brain cell. :-)

Guess that make it the end of this thread. See y'all with updates whenever.

C3D and Barry-boy