Shannon and Oliver - match made in heaven!

Oliver is a Quaker parrot and a VERY special Quaker for two reasons. The first is more obvious in that Oliver is not the typical Quaker or 'Monk' parakeet as they are sometimes referred to. You see Oliver is a hybrid blue Quaker and quite the cutie. Oliver is considered a smaller parrot - about 11-13in., mostly green and gray in color with blue under his wings. Although Oliver is smaller in size, he the possess a personality of a much larger parrot and shares all the same traits and demands. Here are some Quaker Stats.


Shannon and her mom and dad came to learn about parrots and decided a Quaker would be a great first companion for Shannon s they gave us a deposit. Soon after baby Quaker arrived in our nursery. Below you see a picture of Shannon meeting Oliver for the first time. It looks like love at first sight!


Little birds grow fast and we would have loved to have kept Oliver (as he became to be known) with us longer but when a fledgling bird is ready (fully fledged and weaned - eating on their own), it's time to transition to their forever home. Oliver went home to be with Shannon in time to start decorating for Christmas 2009. What a festive way to start a new life. Here's a picture on go-home day!


Congratulations Shannon and Oliver - a match made in heaven. Please keep in touch and since you are so close, we hope you will stop on by for a visit and a wing trimming!

Jeremy and Elena
Oliver's surrogate parents

Announcing AvianOutfitters new on line birdie store

We are excited to announce that last month we launched Rosie's AvianOutfitters on line store. As you know Beaker is our mascot for Beaker's Parrot Place. Well, Beaker's girlfriend - Rosie - is quite the shopper and she has put together a select number of great birdie products for the discriminating parrot. You will find cages, cage stuff, a huge selection of high quality food, and toys...toys... toys. We want to personally thank Debbie Tejada from Tejada Design for the fantastic job building the site!

During the month of December, all visitors who make a purchase will receive a FREE foot toy for their birdie. What a great stocking stuffers this will be.

For all our local friends and customers - we love to have you come and visit us and bring your birds so please continue to do so. Also, we are now carrying a great new line of bird toys from Sensible Parrot - quality toys and a great value. Please give us a call and plan to stop by soon.

Elena and Rosie
http://avianoutfitters.com

I believe in Miracles - Beaker's NEAR miss!

For those of you who have birds, you well know just how smart and crazy they can be. Well, Beaker, our male Solomon Island Eclectus, is an escape artist of sorts. On occasion he escapes through one of this food dish doors. Well, yesterday was one of those days, but this time, he ran into Rizzo, our 6-7 month old rat terrier.

It was NOT a pretty picture. I was downstairs working and heard lost of barking - what's new with two dogs, right? This time, there was something different in the persistence of Rizzo's barking. I ran upstairs into the sunroom to find Beaker's food door open and Beaker no where to be found. I cleared the two dogs out of the room and got on my hands and knees calling for Beaker, I finally saw him and my breath was sucked out of me. Beaker was hobbling towards me with his neck and chest all wet and his wing hanging out.... oh my gosh Rizzo has been toying with the bird!

It was around 4:15pm in the afternoon and I called the avian vet right away. We put Beaker in his tranport carrier and off the vet we went. Beaker was in shock. I didn't see any blood. Our drive to the vet took about 45 minutes - about 45 minutes TOO long.

• The vet kept Beaker over night - Xray, exam, fluids, etc. - they were concerned about the shock and possible infection.
  
• Well, good news!!!!! I called the vet this morning and Beaker was doing much better. No puncture wounds, very sore on the right side of his neck and wing, and the vet said we could pick him up today.... yeah!
  

Beaker was now at home resting.... It remains to be seen if he and Rizzo will be friendly again. All I can say is God is good ALL the time - and He is in the business of miracles.

Here's another picture of our one and only Beaker!!!

Signed,
Beaker's grateful mom

Change of season and change of guard!!!

It's been SO crazy busy around here that we have not been good about writing posts other than the launch communications we have done where we acknowledge formal sendoff of our dear babies into the loving arms of their 'forever' families. This post is dedicated to Claudia, Ethel and Kevin and their new family members. Hang on.... here goes.

First out the shoot on Oct. 31st - Kiwi
In our October 4 post we highlighted the two traveling Timnehs. Well, one of the two owners, Claudia from Eastern WA, also purchased a second bird from us - a baby male Solomon Island Eclectus who she named Kiwi. When Claudia originally called us to talk about parrots, I mentioned that we happened to have a baby male SI Eclectus available and she stopped dead in her tracks because her grandson, Chance, had been doing research on the Eclectus species and had his heart set on one.... Long story short, Claudia, Chance and Kiwi are now forever friends. Enjoy these snaps.

Kiwi and Chance first meeting
taken Sept 26, 2009

October 31, 2009
Claudia and Kiwi forever friends

Two out the door at one time - first... Huey
Huey is one of two African Red-Bellied Parrots. For those who are not acquainted with AR-Bs, they are smaller parrots (approx 9") with a BIG parrot personality. AR-Bs can be good talkers and sound a little like Mickey Mouse on helium. When we bring babies in, we like to bring them in with a traveling buddy so they don't travel along. Huey traveled with his/he sibling, whose name is now Mickie. Here is a snapshot of Huey and Mickie when they arrived at Beaker's nursery.

From left to right... who knows (hah!)
Taken on October 9, 2009 - AR-Bs about 7 weeks old

Kevin lives in the local area in Fife and recently graduated from Fife High. From what we understand, Kevin has had a passion for birds for a long time and we have a strong sense that Huey will not be Kevin's last companion - possibly a blue crown conure! Here is a snapshot of Kevin and Huey taken on go-home day.

From right to left taken Nov. 7, 2009
Huey, Kevin and Kevin's Mom

And then Mickey - last but not least! We got a call from Ethel a few weeks ago now. Ethel recently lost a special companion parrot she had for years (an African Red Bellied parrot). And when she saw our online ad, she just gave us a call. Well, she came to meet Huey's sibling on Oct 29. Ethel knew then and there that this little birdie was the right one for her. She named him Mickie and within two short weeks Ethel was taking Mickie home....what a lucky bird he is. Jeremy and I sent both AR-Bs home on the same day... double the joy all the way around.

And today I got an email from Ethel and she shared, "Mickie made it to the new home and has all the new toys to play with... Chirps a lot and is just looking around at everything. We are going to have so much fun together. The cage is high so he is able to see outside and all that goes on. Thank you so much for giving me the privilege of giving Mickie a home." We just love it when we can help bring parrots and people together in a 'forever match.' Here's a snapshot of Ethel and Mickie with friends.

Center stage - Ethel and Mickie with special friends
taken yesterday - Nov. 7, 2009

We have one more pic for our viewing pleasure. I captured a VERY short video clip of Huey and Mickey on Saturday morning that we wanted to share with you.

Enjoy!

Jeremy and Elena
Beaker's Flock Leaders

Homecoming for Helo

We enjoy writing these kind of posts - and get great satisfaction and joy when we can make an amazing 'forever' match between human and parrot. In this post we are thrilled to acknowledge HELO!!!

Customers, Reece and Margorie came to Beaker's looking for a macaw. During our initial visit they got the chance to meet Beaker, our male Solomon Island Eclectus. Anyone who wants to, gets to hold Beaker when they come to the house. (As part of our process, we talk about personality and lifestyle to help the customer select the best parrot species for them - then we find a sweet baby and bring it in to our nursery for hand-raising and loving ). Well, at the close of our appointment, the Reece gave us a deposit for a baby macaw, a severe macaw, I believe.

To make a long story shorter, Reece called us the next day and asked to change his request from the macaw to a 'baby Beaker.' And the rest is history.... (For those who don't know Eclectus are known as the hypo allergenic bird because they don't have dust gland like most other birds. And this was one of the draws for Reece and Margorie).

On Sunday September 27th, we sent Helo off to his 'forever' home with Reece and Margorie. Helo will always have a special place in our heart, He is a sweet, gentle and confident bird - not to mention just down right gorgeous bird - just wait until is beak turn candycorn yellow and orange - now that's amazing!

Here are a few pictures of Helo's time with us and his new family. Enjoy.

Elena
Co-flock leader

Helo at 6 weeks 5 days old

July 26 - Meeting Helo for the first time

August 9 - visiting day

Aug 25 - feeding Helo

Sept. 27, 2009 Forever Home Day!

Double the pleasure, double the fun!

Back in August, a prospective customer, Amber, came to see one of our Timneh African Greys. ...Well, it was love at first sight.

Then, over the time the Amber came to visit 'Tango' (great name for such a special bird), her partner, Rich, would come along and while he was here he spent time visiting with another baby we were hand-raising (a male Solomon Island Eclectus). To make a long story shorter, Rich fell in love with this baby Eclectus and decided to buy him... so, in this household, it's double the pleasure and double the fun!

Here are a few snapshots of Amber and 'Tango' and Rich and 'PeeWee' for your viewing pleasure.

Tango the day he arrived in the Beaker's Nursery


Amber and Tango on 'forever' go home day


The day PeeWee arrived in Beaker's Nursery


Rich and PeeWee on 'forever' go home day

We have been penned match-makers, and in this case, the rumor is true!


Elena

Co-flock leader

The Two Traveling Timnehs

They came together and the almost left together...well, not exactly but they left Beaker's soon after they got here to move on to their 'forever' homes. While here they blessed our nursery with their cute coos, and playful antics.

I want to acknowledge the breeder for the excellent job he did in giving these two baby Timneh African Greys (TAG) such a GREAT early start. Thanks!!!! This breeder is one of the fine breeders we work with through our Nationwide Parrot Place organization. Our breeders produce such wonderful healthy babies and then we have the pleasure and the fun of hand-raising, nurturing and socializing them through the fledging and weaning process until ready for their 'forever' homes.

Here are two snapshots of the Timnehs the day they arrived - at the time the TAGs were 4 to 4 1/2 months old. These are the oldest babies we have welcomed into our nursery. Most of the time our babies comes to us at 6 - 8 weeks of age but Timnehs have a specific breeding season (from Jan through June) so we were fortunate to find these two cuties for Claudia and the Newcomb family!

Timothy on the left and Mojo on the right

Mojo on the right and Timothy on the left

As I mentioned, Mojo and Timothy were not with us long, but long enough to steal our hearts. Here are four snapshots of go-home day. Yours truly (Elena) was behind the camera.

Sept. 26, 2009
Claudia Stewart and Timothy

Sept. 26, 2009
Timothy going into the carrier

Oct. 2, 2009
The Newcomb's - Dakota, Cierra, Lilly (with Mojo) and Zander
Daddy, Chris is in the US Army serving in Afghanistan

Oct. 2, 2009
Jeremy saying good bye to Mojo

We hope you enjoyed this post!

Elena
Beaker co-flock leader

Happy Trails to Prem!

Just like waves that come in sets, so it seems that the sweet birdies we hand-raise LEAVE in sets....

In this posting we want to acknowledge the moving on of 'Prem' - an absolutely amazing, sweet and smart Congo African Grey. It's interesting to watch the matching of people and parrots - When baby Congo and Sahaj met for the first time, it was SO obvious that they were meant for each other; there was no denying it and both Sahaj and Prem (not his name at the time) knew it. During the short time that Jeremy and I had to privilege and pleasure of working with Prem, both he and Sahaj carved a special place in our hearts.

A week ago Saturday on Sept. 12 we sent 'Prem' on to his 'forever home' with Sahaj and Tom. Here are a few snapshots to tell the story.


Picture #1 - Prem's and Sahaj's first meeting. Jeremy is in the background giving some special time to Prem's traveling buddy, 'Tango' (Timneh African Grey baby).



Picture #2 - Prem's and Tango saying good bye - Tango is on the right and Prem on the left.


Picture #3 - Prem's and Sahaj having one last snuggle before Prem goes into the travel carrier.

Picture #4 - Prem's ready to rock and roll on to his new adventure with Sahaj and Tom.


Prem, don't be a stranger now - you only live in Kent, just a stone's throw from here so make sure your mommy and daddy bring you by for a visit. Blessings on a wonderful life!

Hugs!

Elena (and Jeremy)

New Water Feature!

Hi all,
There is nothing like the sound of white water - especially when it is in your back yard. We are thrilled to be able to say that we have finally executed on a key aspect of our 5 year landscaping plan - adding a water feature. Not only will we benefit from the therapeutic sounds, Beaker and Rosie and the other birdies will love it in when they spend time in the new aviary we will be getting sometime soon. Here are a couple of stills and a video to show you what we are up to... Enjoy!

Elena

We found this crack (fischer) in the bottom of the pond area. When we dropped a rock into the crack, we could NOT hear it hit bottom!

Here is a snapshot of the north stream bed under liner.

Here's a view from the pool area looking up the hill at the two streams.

Now the short video to put things into motion!

Nowhere to be found.... and then there was Rizzo!

Hi all,

My last post was a VERY hard bit of prose to pen. Since 8/16's post we have looked high and low for Memphis but she has not turned up. The signs are still up and, in our heart, we can continue to hope for a miracle.... there is ALWAYS hope; Hope springs eternal!

Looking at Lucy was the hardest thing... I am sure the birds knew that Memphis was missing but they never commented (smile). Jeremy and I could not take it any longer so we got Lucy a new friend... Welcome Rats Rizzo - we call him Rizzo for short. He is a 4 and a half month old Rat Terrier... I have been known to call small dogs, rat dogs before but I never knew there was an 'official' breed... go figure LOL.

Here are a couple of snapshots of our newest family member. Isn't he cute!!!!!

Elena

Tribute to Memphis

Dear friends,

This is one of the hardest posts I will ever write and I dedicate it to Memphis.


On Saturday Aug. 8 Lucy (our American Standard Pitbull mix) and Memphis (our brindle whippet mix) escaped, again, under the fence in our back yard. The neighbors called to let us know they were spotted in the neighborhood so Jeremy went out to get them - he came home with Lucy but not Memphis - she was nowhere to be found. She didn't come home that night, nor any night since. She has been missing 8 days.

For those of you who know us, we live on the edge of Mt. Rainier timberland (literally across the highway). At this point Jeremy and I fear the worst. Memphis had a collar with identification and she was micro-chipped. We put up flyers, posted to Craig List's lost and found, notified the neighbors, contacted the local vet, continually check the shelter listing and drive the neighborhood just in case she is finding her way home. We don't know if she is dead or alive... what we do know is that she is in God's care. It's a bitch not knowing.... and we are VERY sad.

We love you Memphis! We will continue to hope and know that we will see you again someday in heaven. Here are a few more snapshots of our amazing Memphis!

White is Beautiful!!!!!

As some of you may know we are hand-raising two African Greys - a Timneh and a Congo Grey. Both are sweet babies and at 9 weeks old they are learning what their wings will do for them. It's so cute to see them using their nails to grip the carpet so that they can practice flapping their wings. It won't be long and they will take off - I can't wait - flight without control - LOL.

Now for why white is beatiful.... Well you see, the Congo Grey has two white toe nails. I have heard of this before but have not seen it until now. Here are two snapshots taken today - one featuring baby CAG's feet showing the white nails and the other snapshot of baby CAG playing. Enjoy!

Elena

Launch of first newsletter

There are SO many different channels to keep in touch and get our messages out these days - One of the ways to build a social network is through Twitter (Beaker's is now on Twitter - 'beakersparrotpl') - it's amazing how many tweets you get.

At the end of July we also launched our first newsletter called Beaker's Bits. We will be sending Beaker's Bits out to our mailing list. If you would like to be on our mailing list, please visit our website and click the join mailing list link. We promise not to spam folks and to communicate newsworthy info.

Take it easy!

Elena

Baby Beakers!!!!! How cute is this?

Hi all,

Today Jeremy and I went to SeaTac Airport and picked up two new arrivals to the nursery. We have anxiously been waiting this day for a couple of weeks now; because, our two new arrivals are baby male Solomon Island Eclectus... little baby Beakers!

We captured the unveiling on video - enjoy!

Elena

Buddy and AR-B's First Play Date

July 19th began like any other ordinary day in AR-B's young parrot life - the sunshine's early morning wake-up call followed by fresh pellets, a morning treat and fresh water. But July 19 would be a special day for this little parrot and his friend, Buddy - for today Buddy would visit for the first time since he moved on to his 'forever' home with John and Sonja Garland.

Buddy and AR-B were VERY excited to see each other again. Dad and Mom Garland brought Buddy for a visit and the two kids played while John and Sonja took a hike in Mr. Rainier Park (Carbon River entrance.)

Here's a short video clip of Buddy and AR-B during their first play time... enjoy!

Elena

Amendment.... for Kozy

Since I cannot amend a post once I have posted it, I need to correct my previous entry.

Happening more times these days than I care to emit..., I was off on the date that Barry and Cindy picked up Kozy. To set the record straight, Kozy moved on to his 'forever' home Tuesday evening June 23. We trust you are settling well to your new digs!



Elena

Kozy's New 'Forever' Home

It was our joy to send Kozy on to his 'forever' home last Sunday, June 21. We have so enjoyed getting to know Kozy's new parents, Cindy & Barry Fulgham, over the past couple of months that Kozy was with us.

I must say, African Greys are the sweetest birds; well I guess I say that about all the bappies we hand-raise. In this case, Kozy definitely dispelled any myths that greys are shy or phobic, or that they are one person birds. Kozy, nor his brother, Elvis were shy or hesitant to get on the floor and play. About the only thing they didn't care for were the dogs.

Here is a cute snapshot of the happy family....

Happy trails Kozy!!!! Stay in touch.


Elena and Jeremy
Kozy's temporary flock leaders

Happy Trails to Elvis!

One of our great joys is to send off a bappy to his/her 'forever' home. For the Maldonado family, this Father's Day was an extra special day - it was Elvis's big day. In the picture below you see the send off snapshot I took of the family (from left to right Christian, Miguel Jr., Heather and Miguel Sr.) followed by a snapshot of Elvis in his new transport carrier. The family likes the outdoors and plans to take Elvis on their camping trips.... sounds like fun.




Enjoy your new 'forever' home Elvis - you are a lucky bird!

Elena and Jeremy

Milestone for Elvis!!!!

It's amazing just how smart CAGs are. I went down to visit and feed our babies Tuesday morning and was greeted by Elvis.... Amazing, at 11 weeks Elvis spoke his first full sentence, or two... Check it out!

Elena

Happy Trails to Tiko and Buddy!

WOW... the month of May was a very busy month for us. Not only did we send Piper to his new home with Patty and welcome two new CAG babies to the flock - Elvis and Kozy - we sang happy trails to Tiko (Blue and Gold Macaw) and Buddy (Senegal) sending them on to their families on May 24, over the Memorial Day weekend.

If I am being honest with myself, I must confess that parting is SWEET SORROW for me. It's really a double whammy... because not only did I fall in love with Tiko and Buddy, but I have so enjoyed spending time with and getting to know their families - I value the relationship we established and look forward to keeping in touch in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Jeremy and I captured their exits and the smiles of Tiko and Buddy's new families. Enjoy these two shots!

Elena

Happy parents
John and Sonja Garland from Anacortes, WA

Happy family
Cyndi Hodge, Terry and Katey Soos

Celebrating Piper!

Parting is such sweet sorrow.... and so the saying goes. Yesterday we said good-bye to Piper. This cute and crazy little Sun Conure was in our care for the last couple of months as we took him through the development process. In addition to the nurturing guidance and development process we provide, we also taught him a trick or two - one of them, playing dead. Enjoy this short video clip showing Jeremy putting Piper in his cross-hairs.

Piper Perching for the first time!

We bless you Piper and know that you and Patty will have a long and wonderful life together. Enjoy your new digs in Haden, Idaho.