It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds~ Aesop
My love affair with birds started when I was a very young child. I bred and raised parakeets and cockatiels as a kid. I had two egrets, one pigeon, two cockatiels, and one great blue heron find me at picnics or hikes or at home, who I adopted and raised at various points in my life.
I talk to birds wherever I am and they tend to talk back. You should try it. I highly recommend it.
Birds just make me happy. Always have and I find more and more now that I am retired, that the things that made me happy as a kid, still make me happy as an adult, and once again now, I have time for them!
I cannot however adopt a bird until I stop traveling, so I get my bird fix these days by hanging out with the wild Holler birds, and visiting people who rescue birds.
Check out the birds at Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary. Free flight was started by a veternarian who loved birds. He built the facility next to his veterinary hospital that of course treats birds. Free flight is a non-profit that accepts birds with special problems and houses them in a natural tropical setting, where birds are kept in open air perchs with other flock members as they are in the wild. The results are magical, for the birds and for people who are encouraged to visit and interact with the birds.
People leave this place in love with birds! You can see it happening right before your eyes, when the bird decides to hop on them.
The helpful cockatoo got me a better photo by thoughtfully removing this boys hat. I didn’t even have to ask him! Smart chirper.
This one had strong preferences for certain tunes on this woman’s i pod and danced in approval when she picked the ones he liked.
Big brother was quite brave and showed his little sister how to handle a big bird!
The staff thought this eclectus might enjoy calling The Holler home. The only hard part is walking away. We have room for free flight aviaries at The Holler, so someday….. I might be able to breed some birds that are critically endangered in the wild.
All I know is that I grew up not questioning God. God was there like the birds and the wind~ Jane Godall
Cheers to you from all your feathered friends~
For more info check out: http://www.freeflightbirds.com
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These are awesome photos Cindy, their colours are breathtaking! They are stunningly beautiful birds, and they always seem happy to make a connection with humans.
I had a sulphur crested cockatoo a long time ago. He was very protective of me and wouldn’t let anyone else touch him except me. He loved me to talk to him and seemed to listen. They are very sociable birds.
Awesome that you had one. I am envious, but am not around enough to justify it! Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments & cheers to you~
Gorgeous photos – the colors on these birds are exquisite. I can see why you love them!
Their personalities outshine their looks which is pretty amazing! So glad you like them~
I went into a pet shop recently and they had a Scarlet Macaw whose presence I felt before I saw, you know that feeling – ‘someone is looking at me.’ I turned and there he/she was studying me. I walked over and we ‘communed’ for a while. Strange as it sounds, I really felt there was an exchange happening. You probably know what I mean!
I know exactly what you mean. Birds definitely have people they relate to and people they don’t. It would be interesting to study why this is.
Telepathy? It definitely felt energetic. 🙂
These birds jump off my iPad screen. They are beautiful. Great post, Cindy. Thank you for sharing your love of these gorgeous creatures!
Awwww, thank you more for appreciating them!
This post was a real TREAT Cindy! As a fellow bird lover, I truly enjoy the story of you and the birds as well as the beautiful bird photos from the sanctuary.
Us bird lovers rock! Happy you are one! <3
I enjoy birds. I had canaries when I was a child, and my daughter has a parakeet now. The bird sanctuary looks like a wonderful place.
I remember how much I adored my first parakeet, Pretty Petey the Parakeet. Laughing….Tell your daughter she can breed them, or better yet, maybe don’t tell her and see if she figures it out. I did. Laughing……..
Such beautiful birds and if we are close enough we would deb there every day.
So happy you enjoyed them and cheers to you!
Cindy, these are exquisite. I was entranced from the first picture and fell in love before the end of the first paragraph.
I’m wishing I was there with those incredible birds and able to give them a home. I admire the people who have this facility…how I wish I could be there. I’ll simply have to save your post and look at the photos.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Blessings. Susan 💖
You are just like me, you want to be around them! It’s a wonderful gift I think to be happy in the presence of birds and they sense it I think. You might try and google exotic bird rescue and see if there is a place near you. I suspect there may well be…… <3
Many thanks for the idea, it sounds perfect. 😀
Ditto on these photos being awesome! I’m such an animal lover, but I’ve never fully connected with birds on a cuddle level. My sister has always had a bird friend around though. 🙂
Many birds are big cuddlers. Especially if they are flocking, not solitary species. If they aren’t with their natural flock, then humans become their flock and they want to groom and cuddle. It is quite endearing to see it happen to someone who doesn’t expect it.
A pleasure to see these wonderful and colorful photos! Our family had a parrot who had lived for over 30 years. Super smart, a wonderful friend, and a very beautiful bird. Thanks so much, Cindy! Have a good night! 🙂
This is one reason lots of parrots species end up in rehab centers. They outlive their owners, and they were fully bonded so it is quite traumatic for them.
Wunderschöne Tiere
Vielen danke!
How lovely to see the birds and their interaction with the visitors. I love the photo with the pink bird and the woman with the curly hair; it’s serene.
She just got entirely blissed out as did the bird. You could almost see the endorphins flowing back and forth. It was lovely as are you my friend~
Blissed out; how delicious that sounds.
Birds are lively and these ones are so bright and coloirfull! 🙂
I wonder what the wolf child would make of them!!!!
Beautiful colours; spectacular photographs. And I do like your take on retirement.
I guess someone referred to it as a second childhood for a good reason! 😉
The birds are magnificent! I want to hold them!! I love your dream of raising endangered ones! That would be awesome!!! It’s so cool how they interact with people! I can just see the one dancing to the ladies cell phone!! Hugz Lisa and Bear
Birds are very social creatures, and when they are no longer in the wild (where I wish they were safe) their flock becomes people. They need continual interaction or they become lonely and anxious.
Spectacular photos, Cindy. Such dazzling colours. RH
So happy you enjoyed and cheers my friend~
Cindy – you really do have a thing (fling) with birds! Happy you get to visit with some of them and take gorgeous photographs.
Yep, I have a thing and a fling with birds!!! Love it!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
As I mentioned in my post yesterday I have put Reblog Saturday to bed but I will still be reblogging the usual favourites during the week along with any new finds in Blogworld. This week Cindy Knoke visited a bird sanctuary and as you can see the colour and personalities of the rescued birds shines right through and cascades all over the humans, thankfully just their colours!
Awwww, you are very perceptive and read the birds and people well! Thank you for your ongoing kindness and thoughtfulness! <3 <3
Gorgeous birds!
They look like giant flying flowers! <3
Never thought of them that way, but that is so true!
So wondrous, Cindy – another love we share. My parakeets (Bud and Queenie) and I are grateful for your lovely photos and your new opportunities to spend time doing what you love.
Awwwww, I knew we communicated on a meta-level! Give Bud & Queenie my love. <3
What great shots! I like birds too and have had cockatiels and a parrot a long time ago. But you had an egret??? how does one have an egret? lol The Blue Macaw…I knew a girl once who had one named Captain Crunch. Loved that name. Thanks for the great memories and beautiful shots!
Egrets and Herons have adopted me. A Great Blue Heron decided to live by our front door. That is one big bird to walk by every morning! He ate lizards. Two egrets, both uveniles adopted me. I have no idea why. I wonder as I’m writing this how many people get adopted by wild birds. I love them of course, but there have been at least a half dozen wild birds who have flown onto my picnic blanket or into my yard who don’t belong there and needed help. It is always a big thrill for me. It would be interesting to ask bloggers if this has happened to them and how often. It would be an novel data set. I wish I had thought of it.
That’s amazing Cindy! You are the Bird Whisperer! We have lots of birds outside on the lake just off our back deck but I have to say only a turkey came on our deck to sit in the sun. What does THAT say? haha
Well he must have felt quite confident that you weren’t going to eat him! 😉
I just love those birds. They’re dazzlingly beautiful 🙂
They are, and their intelligence has always impressed me! Plus birds are normally happy! They are good role models~
Stunning pictures.
YAY! Thank you~
I love birds and have way too many conversations with them in my yard, glad to know someone else who does the same Cindy. Love your photographs, the colors are so vivid – really extraordinary.
Talking with any animal is a good idea in my book, as long as you don’t drone on too long of course, wouldn’t want them to find me a dull conversationalist! 😉
This post goes right to the heart, Cindy! Very enjoyable reading! The photos speak for themselves, unbelievable. Gorgeous colours they have too!
Oh so kind and so appreciated! <3
I do love birds. These photo are wonderful. Look at those vibrant colors. Birds are smart too and great companions.
I had a talking parakeet and a snooty companion for him and I once babysat a cockatiel for two weeks. Forgot about those experiences until your post. Thank you. Love this.
That is great that the post brought back these memories. I also got a snooty companion for my first parakeet. Fun memories of neat little kids! <3
The male parakeet was such fun. He was mostly yellow and green. His name was Sunny.I thought he might be lonely so I got another one. Turned out to be a female. I called her Cher. Give a kish, give a kish, Sherry. 😀
Oh Cindy, I am so enraptured by your photos vibrancy and subject matter the second your blog page opens I am immediately dumbstruck. Instead of insightful commentary I just drool and say something banal like “nice pics!’
It’s your fault for being so damn good! 🙂 I do enjoy my visits, even if it sounds like a moron is writing my comments!
Thank you for being such a kind, sweet and always brilliant blogger! I was just looking at Queen Mary’s tiaras and then saw you comment. What a great way to start the day, tiaras and thoughtfulness! <3
I wouldn’t lie to a fellow artist! Those birds were positively eye-popping!
Wow what an amazing photo!
Well thank you!
How lovely and sweet they are and it is your photography that brings them closer to my heart.
You would love having a bird and they would love having you! <3
Connecting to wildlife brings all kinds of joy 🙂
Yep, kinda magical really!
Wow, striking photo!
Mil grazi!
Wow amazing colors! These are so beautiful! 😄😄😄💗The white one has feathers that look like fluffy clouds! 😄
It’s hard to do pure white justice in a photo, but the texture is miraculous! Thanks for noticing!
Each of your beautiful pictures captures the wonderful personalities of these birds, Cindy! I would SO love to visit this sanctuary. Have you ever seen the film Winged Migration? If not, I highly recommend it.
Yes! It was awe inspiring and tear inducing. I should watch it again! Thanks for reminding me~
Beautiful, charming, intelligent birds! I look forward to your photos and blurbs. The subject matter is always captivating.
Meeting people like you is what makes blogging so worthwhile! <3
Cindy, I sooo know what you mean about having a bird at home involving a commitment to not leave home for long periods of time. I have a parrotlet and have limited traveling to local road trips that allow me to take her along and staying at pet-friendly hotels. Or, I just do quick day trips and turn around and come back in the same day, or, at most, I’ll take an overnight trip. However, I schedule my trips to make sure she always gets supervised in-home flight time each day because it’s the best source of exercise for her. My life revolves around her!
Whenever you’re in a place where you can keep birds at home, I sure look forward to hearing all about it! 🙂
Yes, I understand fully and respect you greatly for focusing on her needs. Parrot species left alone or subjected to owners who are constantly leaving get seriously anxious. They tend to bond to one human mainly and when that human leaves their world leaves. I see you understand this completely. This is why I cannot get a bird(s) until I stop traveling. If and when I do get one, you will be one of the first people I talk too. You know what you are doing and you and your bird are lucky! <3 <3
What fantastic photographs of beautiful birds, looking at then has been a wonderful start to my day!
Oh I am so glad, it makes posting rewarding! Cheers to you~
Yes I can see those birds talking to you Cindy, they know a friend when they see one. These photos are just stunning the colours of the feathers are incredible.
I know the cockatoos are as common to you as house finches here, but to us they are rare and beautiful! Thanks so much Pauline and cheers to you my friend~
I wish to have such entertaining bird, but the cat wont tolerate it
No, and the bird probably wouldn’t much like the cat either! 😉
Look at those colors!! Aren’t they magnificent!!!
Remarkable show mother nature puts on! 🙂
Stunning captures! 🙂
Awwwww, so appreciated! <3
how vibrant are those colours? !!! Stunning photographs as usual Cindy 🙂 🙂
So kind and sooo appreciated! <3
Gorgeous!
Grazi madam!
I like your positive Pictures, thank you very much Cindy….❤❤❤
Thank you for liking them! <3
Our East Coast birds are pretty drab compared to other regions of the worlds. Flashes of yellow from goldfinches; Streaks of red or orange from summer tanengers and oriolss. When we traveled in South Africa a few years back we enjoyed seeing so many colorful birds.
Oscar
Yes the same here except for the hummingbirds, orioles and woodpeckers!
These birds are all so very gorgeous! And how wonderful that you want to breed the endangered birds one day. I hope you can pursue your dreams when ready! 🙂
I’ll be calling on you for caregiver advice!!!! 😉
Magnificent, showy avians! Great shots of them, of course. As you always bring us. 😀
xo
They are indeed showy but also smart and affectionate! <3
Those birds are beyond beautiful, the blue is so vibrant that they almost do not look real – but I know they are! 🙂
The thing that truly blew me away was seeing them in the wild, the way they are supposed to be. Flashes of crimson flocks and loud parrots calling over the jungle. Paradise~
The Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary is absolutely awesome….Wonderful photographs dear Cindy… Happy weekend to you!. Love, Aquileana 😀
:star: ★ :star: :star: ★ :star: :star: ★ :star: :star: ★
Happy weekend to you my wonderful friend! <3 <3 <3
wonderful and worth watching such fantastic beautiful birds) cheers 🙂
So happy you enjoyed and cheers to you!
That really seems to be a livelong love affair 🙂 And your pics are so emphathic !
Awwww, such a thoughtful comment! <3
Make sure to have a towel or something on your shoulder.
😉