The Birds of Smallwood & Sullivan County, New York

Cedar Waxwing

Summer in Sullivan County is abundant with the beauty of wildflower meadows, lush green rolling hills, farmlands, forests, and of course, many beautiful birds. In fact, the Sullivan County Audubon Society says "Sullivan County is one of New York State's birdiest counties." The Audubon Society reports that in one year there were 129 species of birds sighted just in the Township of Bethel, home to the lovely community of Smallwood. Other Towns in Sullivan County report impressive bird sightings as well. You can view details and photos at http://www.sullivanaudubon.org/. So how about spending and hour or a day talking a nature walk, or sitting quietly by a lake or under a tree and keeping an eye out for the birds. How do you keep them around. Do what we do. Talk with the birds. Try quiet clicking sounds with your tongue against your palette, or whistles, or maybe even a squawk.

The Sullivan County Bald Eagle population in the mid-1970's was estimated to be "two." That's right "2." However, in 1990 New York State purchased 12,000 acres in Sullivan County and created one of the largest bald eagle preserves in the country. The word about the preserve is out because the winter bald eagle population of Sullivan County swells to about 100. Most of these eagles are 'snowbirds' and return to their homes in February and March. But there are still bald eagle watching opportunities throughout the year in Sullivan County and nearby. For more information, you can visit www.catskillhikes.com/eagles.html.

Visit us again for more travel and tourism and talking with birds. If you have a bird photo you would like us to post at http://www.talkingwithbirds.blogspot.com/, send an email to talkingwithbirds@yahoo.com.

Don't forget to click on the "comments" link below this article to share your thoughts with us and our readers. See ya soon!

Unspoiling our Bird - Part Two - Going Mobile

In Part 1 of this series, we described the large and luxurious new home base cage we set up for Mr. Spock to begin the unspoiling process.

The next step toward unspoiling Mr. Spock, our 25 year-old controlling cherry-head conure, was to purchase a new "playpen" for him so that he can have familiar comfortable surroundings wherever he goes in our home. He already has a "play area" in our office, but the new "mobile" addition gives him more options. It has a ladder, swinging toys, a high perch, low perch, food and water dishes, etc.

So, right about now you may be asking "exactly how is this unspoiling our precious parrot." I'm kind of questioning it myself. (Just kidding.) Actually, it's working. This is all part of our master plan to be able to have Spock close by whenever he starts feeling restless. Even though his cage is wide open when we are home, he does get restless from time to time. That's when the spoiled brat-bird in him starts to rear it's un-pretty head. The screeching begins. Sometimes he is letting us know he doesn't want to be alone while we are in another room. Other times, he may want some of what we are cooking or eating, or might want a light out or a light on, etc.

So, now that we have a mobile playpen for him. This has served to quiet the pesky parrot every time. It has cut out on a lot of screaming matches between us and him. And...since screaming is our bird's specialty, he is usually the winner of any Call of the Wild match. So now our little talks with Mr. Spock are more conducive to harmony in our home.

So, we highly recommend mobile playpens.

Unspoiling Our Bird - Part One - The first day home

Hello All,
It's been about a week since the last post because our extra focus and efforts have been on the "unspoiling of Mr. Spock." It began when our 25 year-old, cherry-head conure returned home from the hospital last week after a 14 day stay. The first phase of his hospital stay was for acute care, then it was more like in-patient rehab for the rest of our pretty little parrot's stay.

Over time, we have come to realize that Spock has been running our household, setting his rules, creating the schedules, telling us what to do, and so on. So we thought his homecoming would be a good starting point for us to begin on an even footing with him. Thus the beginning of "Unspoiling Our Bird." We had a plan would talk it over with Spock.

He arrived home to find a very large new cage, as opposed to the large previous cage. Bunches of new and interesting toys. A few of his new toys were just fresh new replacements of the identical toy that he had been playing with and demolishing for a long time. He adapted to the new cage and it's new location very quickly. We thought that it would be an easier adjustment for him to come home to everything new after the two weeks in the incubator at Backos Bird Clinic in Deerfield Beach, rather then just making the switch while he still called the old cage "home." Now, mind you, Mr. Spock is not confined to his cage too often. In fact, he has significantly more "open door" time than he does "locked door" time. It's his choice to be inside or out.

So, a recap so far of how we are unspoiling our cheery cherry-head conure: Big New Cage ! Lots of New and Fun Toys! Moving furniture around to create the perfect aviary space for him. Access in and out whenever he wants. Hmmmm....maybe we need to take a better look at this plan. But seriously, there is a plan. Tune in again to http://www.talkingwithbirds.blogspot.com/ for Part Two in the series "Unspoiling Our Bird."

Welcome Home Pretty Parrot !

Yay! Mr. Spock is back home. Our 25 year-old cherry-head conure returned home from a two week hospital stay at Backos Bird Clinic in Deerfield Beach, FL, where they took excellent care of him. He is happy and perky and show no signs of the nasty infection that was affecting his breathing.

Our healthy bird arrived home to his brand new supersized cage, with all new toys, perches and playthings. He hasn't even seen his playpen in the other room.

Visiting the Avian Hospital

Our Sr. Consultant, Mr. Spock, is still a patient at Backos Bird Clinic in Deerfield Beach, FL. His condition has improved very much. At this stage, he is more in parrot rehab, rather than in the acute stage of his care. Dr. Backos and staff are building him up so that he is strong enough to safely return home. In fact, he is back to doing some part time consulting for talkingwithbirds.com and talkingwithbirds.blogspot.com .

When visiting him at the avian hospital, I talk with our brilliant cherry-head conure about the blog and website. Progress at the new webiste http://www.talkingwithbirds.com/ has been delayed due to Spock's recent illness. Now that this parrot is perking back up, we should be expanding things at the website and the blog. Keep birds eye out for changes.

Spock's most recent suggestion was that he wants to make it easier for everyone to reach him and us. So now, you can add your comment to any post by clicking on the "comments" link just below the post. He has some other great ideas up his wing. Stay posted.

Poem to a Parrot, by Dee in Colorado

This poem was written by a dear friend (and Mr. Spock's Aunt) when she heard that Spock, our cherry-head conure, is in the bird hospital.

Just in case you haven’t heard
Mr. Spock is quite a bird!
Once a Rocky Mountain creature
Now a retired Boynton Beacher

I remember well when he was young
you wanted him to hold his tongue
But every little squeak and squawk
had wisdom in that Vulcan talk

I often marveled his colorful hues
of dazzling reds and brilliant blues
And even though he pecked my feet
Mr. Spock is very sweet

Get well Mr. Spock!
-Dee

Wild Birds

outside in the morning and it's all around
from the quiet comes a sound

it can only be a the song of a creature
that has a soft feathery feature

they rise before most are awake
and sing a song to find their mate

rising high in the air
they show us they are there

Human Heart Breaks at the Bird Hospital

Went to visit Mr. Spock today in the hospital. Our fragile cherry-head conure (AKA Senior Consultant of www.talkingwithbirds.blogspot.com) has been there since Monday. Dr. Sam Backos and the staff at Backos Bird Clinic in Deerfield Beach, FL are taking excellent care of him. The hardest part was leaving at the end of the visit.

Spock was so excited when arrived and opened the incubator door, In an instant, he was zooming up my arm, heading straight for that warm and cozy nook atop my shoulder, along side my neck. His individual incubator is a spacious and warm safe haven with lots of room to move around, while remaing easy to observe by doctor and staff. After a nice long visit, I returned him to his incubator, and he ran to the back and stuck his beak in the corner and just stood there with his back toward me and the door. It was soooo soooo soooo sad. Broke my heart. I'm guessing he was crying in a bird sort of way.

Needless to say, I couldn't leave. So I began my incubator-side vigil trying to get him to turn around and come out of the corner. There I remained with the door open, my hand inside waiting patiently for a stubborn Mr. Spock, who just wouldn't budge. Finally, after throwing lots of kisses his way, and talking to him using all his favorite phrases (most of which include the words "pretty bird," he softened up, walked over and jumped on my finger. He forgave me.....that's my "pretty bird." I spent the next 30 minutes, talking to him, hand feeding him fruits and veggies, rubbing his head, and taking him in and out of the incubator for kisses. Finally, when he seemed relaxed and starting to get bored with me, I zoomed out of there.

Off I went to Whole Foods Market to drown my sorrows in organic produce and bins filled with bulk stuff, much of which we will bring back to Backos Bird Clinic on our next visit.

A Little Parrot Humor

A new pet store opens. The shopkeeper puts a parrot in a birdcage outside in front of the store to attract some attention. A woman walks by the shop on her way to work, as she does every day, and the parrot says "You're Ugly." The woman is quite offended and walks off in a huff. The next morning the woman walks past the parrot again and he says "You're Ugly." She is indignant. On the third day, more of the same, the bird says "You're Ugly." This time the woman finds the shopkeeper and tells him about this and demands that he do something to stop it. So the shopkeeper brings the parrot inside, has a little talk with him, and sets him back outside. The next morning when the woman comes along, she looks at the parrot and he says in a sarcastic tone "You Know."

Empty Nest - Medical Leave of Absence for Sr. Consultant

Mr. Spock, our 25-year old cherry-head conure, just spent his second night at the vet's office for a nagging pseudemonas infection and a clogged nasal passage. Poor guy. After undergoing a 2-week course of daily injections, nose drops and mouth drops, one of his tiny little "nostrils" remains as corked up as a bottle of wine. Giving him the injections and meds was as hard on us as it was on him. That frightened look on his face when we approached the petrified parrot to bring him to the "treatment room" (AKA kitchen counter covered with towel)....what a heart breaker. Then there was the running around and away from us to the deepest depths of his cage and play habitats. He never seems to learn that he can run, but he can't hide from us. So Dr. Sam Backos (Uncle Sam to our ailing bird), decided to keep him at his avian hospital in Deerfield Beach, South Florida and work on manually unclogging that hole. I imagine this is something like sinus surgery for a human....eeeeshk. Otherwise, he seems pretty healthy right now.

As you may know, I rely heavily on Mr. Spock's bird editorial perspective when posting on www.talkingwithbirds.blogspot.com . I talk ideas over with him, generally in the evening, while drafting posts. So, while our Senior Consultant for www.talkingwithbirds.com is on medical leave, I am flying solo in writing. Therefore, there may be an extreme human presence detected in the posts until Mr. Spock returns from his leave.