Hi Jean. Thanks. :-)

Olive is sooooooo un-shy about her, uhhhh, how can I put it nicely ... her needs?

She went for a visit yesterday afternoon to Barry's bachelor pad and said:

Well HiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiii Sweetheart! **kisses** **kisses** **kisses** You wanna whoopie? Huh? You wanna whoopie? Do you?????? Huh? **kisses** ROTFLMAO!!!

She gets soooo excited and dialates and pinpoints her pupils when she's lusting after her boy-toy.

It was NOT a conjugal visit.

Our Swifts left waaaay back in August but we too had a flock of them twittering around one evening and they saw the VACANCY sign in both our chimneys. They were very nice. Very chatty but no wild parties during their overnight stay and they were gone.

Letcha know how Barry dodges the Olive bullet next time. :-)

I have to say I don't think most of what goes on here is post-worthy because we live it on a daily basis. (Lord help us!) But ... when I write down a slice of "our life" ... I can't believe I feel this is normal! LOL!

Deranged me

Chicka, You really do need to get an Oliver for Olive. There's a lot of people that would love to have the first little Olivette or Olivia. My husband might kick me out but I would love one.LOL He really didn't want a pond either at first. Glenda

Hi Glenda.

We've discussed getting Olive a man of her own. We *seriously* need to downsize the aviary dove population first. There is no more room there for another parrot.

When Mr. Pikecoe hears that first HiiiIIIIIIIiiiii Sweetheart! directed at HIM and he becomes Pretty boy, I'm sure he won't kick you out! :-)

Here's Barry-boy with his brilliant new tail!
{{gwi:173445}}

Looks thrilled, doesn't he?!?!?

All was quickly forgiven when he got cherries, mealworms, nightcrawlers, waxworms, crickets, warm pasta, raspberries, peaches, grapes ...... :-)

Too bad he didn't have a tail last month!

Barry, Your tail is gorgeous. Now hang onto it, don't let anyone else grab it. And before you know it, It'll be spring and you'll get to go bob, bob, bobbing along with all the rest of the Robins. And you and the Miss Robin you choose will start making little Robinettes. Glenda

Hey, Barry, looks like Spike's Rogaine really did a good job on you! Beautiful... oops, handsome shiny new black tail feathers you have there!
Anne

He looks fabulous. I so enjoy reading about his progress.

Lisa

Not much going on with Barry these days. He eats, sings, flies around. He's not at all interested in playing with birdy toys. He just can't lower himself to Grackle or Blue Jay standards! ... Although he does like to ring a tiny bell that's at the end of some beads on a thin chain. (That's OK Barry. Your secret is safe.)

Having priced cherries from Chile at $7.50 a pound ... cherries are out of the diet for the moment. The bait store guy is true to his word and has plenty of redworms for Barry. I also purchase 1000 waxworms at a time. Between all the critters who eat those guys, that lasts about a week.

What to get Barry for Christmas? Dunno. Maybe a lovely framed portrait of his wannabe bridezilla, Olive? :-)

So glad Barry is still doing well. I know he will miss his cherries though. He does like cranberries doesn't he? Should be able to get them this time of year. Get him some Cranraisins. Are they ok for him?? Glenda

Hi.

Barry does get cranberries and cranrasins plus holly berries ... strawberries, apricots, 3 kinds of grapes, apples, blueberries, kiwi fruit, watermelon, honeydew, cactus fruit and whatever else we can find in the grocery stores. There's a seed mix, a nut mix, a suet mix, and some warm baby bird cereal with bird food pellets and pasta too.

Waxworms, redworms and meal worms plus crickets. YUMMM!

We'll get some cherries for him this month but not a whole pound of them! Basically he's just hanging out until the weather warms and he's better able to adjust to real weather and temperature changes.

Olive still visits and screams: Where were YOU?!?!?!? and then makes the sound of kisses followed by the ever popular question ... You wanna whooppie?!? HUH? Do you Sweetheart? You wanna whooppie??? LOL!

Hey C3D! What timing - I was thinking of Barry this weekend as I watched the robins clearing out my cedar trees of berries. If you want I could send you a bag of berries - the trees are loaded this year! There is certainly plenty to share with Barry :^)

Thanks Jean, that's *very* sweet of you! :-) Barry gets cedar berries and the fruit from the Mountain Ash and crabapples. There is a HUGE crop of the various berries this year isn't there?!?! He also gets peas, cooked pasta ... just about anything we can think of is offered to him so his diet is as varied as possible including a tray with schtuff from the compost pile so he can pick out millipedes or whatever else is crawling around in there.

He like Apple Jacks cereal too. (LOTS of those in the wild, dontchaknow?) Gotta have dessert after having your millipede meal. LOL!

Wow, can I come eat with Barry? Except for the millipedes and worms - I think I'll get my protein else where. But I gotta ask, does he get milk with those Apple Jacks ???? :^)

C'mon up, Jean! There's always room for another guest here at Camp Nappy. :-)

Birds can't digest milk well so they don't get milk or milk products like cheese. All the birds here like Apple Jacks or Golden Grahams the best. Olive, Niko and Paulie get theirs whole and the others get theirs broken up into smaller pieces.

The Sugar Gliders, Barry and Bub like grape and strawberry jelly. The SGs like orange juice and so does Kramer although he uses the OJ for a bath. YIKES! What a sticky mess that was! LOL!!! Olive doesn't do orange juice but likes grape juice. ... And on and on with the menu selections.

So Jean, worms and millipedes are a NO for your diet. Apple Jacks are a YES. What else should we know to customize YOUR menu? :-)

Merry Christmas Barry. Thanks for the updates CD3. :)

Oooh thanks Lisa. Merry Christmas to you and yours too! :-)

As promised Barry has his cherries and other fruit favourites. Cherries are $7.99 a pound! But ... He is Barry and he's been through so much. He deserves it!

We saw who we believe to be *OUR* Mr. Cardinal yesterday and today at the feeders. A male Cardinal who isn't quite the brilliant red as the others.

We'll see if we can get Barry to pose nicely for a new photo. His tail still looks great! :-)

C3D

Yes, keep those updates comin!

Sarah - Buried deep in the MN deep freeze!

Here's our dear Barry-boy today. He was just hanging out on one of the Brugmansia trees watching the outside birdies eating their fill of goodies .... grateful he's not fighting the bitter cold. :-)
{{gwi:173469}}

Gorgeous tail and all!!!! Come on spring!

Barry is so beautiful!!! I just love checking in to see how he is doing. Tonight the snow is accumalating, glad Barry has such a warm and wonderful home during the cold of winter. Take Care.

Lisa

Barry is getting *very* antsy! Maybe it is the longer days but he knows that freedom is one day nearer!

We figured we'd just open the free flight doors and let Barry fly ouside on his time without getting him into a panic mode by trying to catch him. For sure we don't want to set him back again by the loss of his precious tail!

We're thinkin' maybe mid to end of March? Need to see what our crazy weather is doing then.

My Purple Martins returned or at least one of the scouts did. Saw him sitting on top of the Martin Condo and I went out and opened the doors so they could move in and set up house-keeping. It won't be too much longer before Barry can go out and find Mrs. Barry and make lots of little Barryettes. I bet he will be so happy, but I know he will always remember his human family and hopefully he will visit often. Might come back looking for those nice cherries, strawberries and other goodies when the ones in nature get scarce. Poor Olive will miss him terribly. How about a Mr. Oliver, anymore thoughts on this?? Glenda

Hi again. Just me.

I spoke to the avian specialist about our Barry and he agrees it would be best for Barry to wait just a couple more weeks before release. The primary population of Robins is still south of us but is making its way north. He won't miss out on finding a Mrs. Our extreme winter temperatures may not be over yet either and since Barry has been in captivity almost a full year ... it would be best to let him acclimate to the great outdoors when better temperatures are about.

At the earliest Barry will leave the first week of April. We'll need to watch the weather forcasts and hopefully make a safe decision. I'll let you know when Barry is once again a free bird. :-)

Oh C3D:

How bittersweet. I think everyone on this forum has become attached to Barry in one way or another. We are all so glad to see him spread his wings, but we will miss his and Olive's love stories.

Godspeed Barry,

We are going to miss you little guy.

Jenny

I can just hear Olive now. Screeching "What have you done with the Pretty Bird now!!" Huh, Huh??

LOL!!

Waiting ...Waiting ... Waiting ....

Waiting for at least two days of nice weather so Barry can be released. We were hoping this week but it's raining on and off. We were hoping this weekend but Sunday it is supposed to get very cold and rain and then SNOW Monday / Tuesday.

I don't know who wants the release more ... me or Barry! He remains 113% a wild bird. He is NOT the least bit tame. He's very cautious and still thinks we might decide to eat him although he has not been touched since .... early October when we were checking if his tail was growing in.

I'd like him to get out before his 1 year anniversary but ... I guess a few more days to ensure a better transition is BEST for all. :)

A new companion for Olive may be on the horizon too.

Letcha know.

I've been wondering about Barry. Thanks for the update. Wish we could all be there for the "release"!!!

Well, It is closer than it has been. I know he will be so glad to get out and fly around without being confined to a small area and be with all the other birds. Just hope he looks before crossing the road next time. Hoping he and Mrs. Barry will make a nest nearby and you get some Robin babies to watch. Can't wait to hear what Olive thinks of a new man in her life.

We're hoping to release Barry this Saturday and he can wake up on Easter Sunday ... FREE! :-) There's a 50% chance of rain on Easter Monday but ... eventually it will rain on our Barry-boy. He's singing his lovely lilting morning song right now.

Olive is busy ~baby-sitting~ triplet cockateil chickies that are 4 days old but that's another story. LOL!

Barry will be released tomorrow morning. Weather is supposed to be very nice until Tuesday when it *might* rain. Temperatures at night will be on the cool side ... mid to lower 40s F. but he's not had supplemental heat to keep the room warmer than 50F. Cherries, assorted chopped fruit and red worms, mealworms and waxworms are on the menu today.

I'll miss him. :*(

Best and heartfelt Wishes Barry. You are a special bird and I was so happy to read and follow your journey.

Warm Regards,
Lisa

You've spoiled him so much he will likely be pounding on the window to get back in if conditions are not perfect. LOL. Sounds like the way I felt when the boys went off to college. Sandy

Dearest Barry, you are free. After 363 days in captivity your interrupted life continues as it should. Wild and free. While here you blessed us with your strength to survive and overcome the many obstacles that were the result of your car accident and a tail loss.

You blessed us with your beauty and your beautiful songs. You blessed us with nightcrawlers crawling outside your enclosure too.

May God bless you now so you may continue your life healthy and joyous as you find a Mrs. and bless future generations with Barrylettes. Surely when you are asleep you will at times dream of Olive, the parrot. She was quite enchanted with you. And should you ever have a disagreement with your future Mrs., you can close your eyes and smile as you hear the voice of your big green girlfriend telling you: "HiiiiiIIIIIIIiiiiii Sweetheart! OoooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo! Pretty Boy! *kisses*" ...

Stay safe Barry. Please look both ways before crossing the street. Watch out for hawks and those who would do you harm. Enjoy the sunshine and your home without boundaries. God speed and thank you Barry.

And so the doors to the aviary were opened this day and after several minutes Barry realized he was free to leave. He walked to the open door and looked around. He paced back and forth just inside the doorway. He started the familiar Robin chirping and 8 Robins appeared from no where running across the lawn toward the sound of Barry's voice. Barry ran down the two steps, across the patio and took flight 363 days after the accident into the air and landed in the Russian Olive Tree and began to sing.

He then quickly flew back down and 4 Robins ran to greet him and they all began to chatter. Seems like he may already be familiar with them, since he had full view of the front and back garden and they could converse through the windows. Barry ran across the lawn, picking at the ground and no doubt savoring the cold dew on his feet. He may already have a girlfriend because one was following him in the grass!

He is not banded or tagged in any way. We will never know which Robin is Barry. That is a secret only known to a wild bird we once met. His name was Barry.

Mike gave Barry a father-son type talk on Friday. Your typical "Don't do this. ... Don't do that. ... Be careful. ... Don't get eaten. ... Visit often. ........... " I'm sure it went in one ear and out the other as is ~normal~ for those kinds of lectures.

Barry left at 6:50 AM. (In reality it was 13 minutes before 7:00. TRUE!!! ) I got to work at 9:30 and there were 5 baby bunnies waiting for me! They are wild Cotton-tail bunnies and their eyes are not open yet. An hour later someone else brought in two day old kittens! The Mom Cat was killed by a car.

I don't think Mike will ever let me out of the house again at this rate!

And so it continues ......

A Happy and Blessed Easter to everyone from me and mine.

Good bye Barry! Have a wonderful life and have lots of little Barr-ettes! You're story will always inspire and up-lift me.

Bunnies???? Kitties!!!! Pictures please!

The five Cottontail bunnies I got last Saturday are still doing well. They have all opened their eyes and seem quite content and active. From past experience I know things can change for the worse in the blink of an eye but for now the little ones are doing well.

I purchased a digital camera last night and when / if I figure out all the buttons, I'll be posting photos of the bunnies.

Baby kittens and the cockateil triplets are also thriving. NO VACANCY!

~Me in need of sleeeeeeeeeeeeep

Yippee - C3D has gone digital (much better than postal :^)!

I've got my fingers crossed for the bunnies .... and the kittens .... and the cockateils ..... did I miss anyone?

Tears for Barry... Happy/sad tears.

Looking forward to Bunny and Kitty pictures, but Spike and Barry will always have a special corner of my heart.

Anne