Babies!

I am just thrilled! 

I know that I've bitched and complained on my blog for quite a while but most people who see me in person wouldn't real know that I've been depressed.  I act like things are okay.  But today, I will not complain on my blog...because we have an egg!

Lucy squirted out an egg and right now, McLovin is sitting on it.  I cannot wait to see if it develops or if Lucy lays more eggs.  Our little cockatiel factory is working overtime.  They have been having some serious bird sexy time and it looks like it's paying off.

I walked into the office because I thought the dogs were pestering the birds.  I looked in the cage and I could only see Lucy.  I looked into the nesting box and couldn't see McLovin, so I went into mini-panic and opened the cage and started to pull the box closer so I could open the top to look inside.  The instant my hand touched the box, McLovin popped his head out the door of the box and hissed and snapped at me.  I've never been happier to have a damn bird try to eat my ass.

Anyone want to take bets on how many eggs she will lay?  I bet 4.

~Nancy Drew

Bird Sexy Time

Yesterday, I put the nesting box in the cage for McLovin and Lucy.  I put Sparkles in a separate cage because cockatiels become aggressive towards each other when they are nesting.  McLovin normally turns into a devil and Lucy becomes more calm and cuddly.  The nesting box went in yesterday and both McLovin and Lucy were in it just after 10am today.  Usually, they won’t go in it for several days after I present it to them.  I guess they are in a hurry.  McLovin is doing a great job rearranging the nest and chewing on the box to ensure it’s perfect for Lucy and the babies.  I can hear him in the nest right now asking Lucy what she’s doing.  She never responds.

Sparkles is pissed.  She is pacing in her cage.  I wonder if she feels left out.  I may get a male companion for her so that she can sit.  McLovin tapped that yesterday but I’m not sure that he would nest with Sparkles.  I just don’t want to take a chance of Sparkles laying a clutch and not having a male to help sit.  It’s just not fair to her.

~Nancy Drew

Sparkles

Sparkles in the new flight cage.

Sparkles chillin on the couch.

Sparkles loves to poop on Mommy's furniture. :)

Sparkles was having a snack on the couch.

Sparkles was given to me by my bff Amanda.  She is a very cuddly cockatiel and loves to be scratched on the head.  She has her grumpy moments but has a kind heart.  She threatens to bite all the time but never hurts anyone.  She has sexy time with McLovin sometimes and I believe that's why Lucy hates her.  :)

~Nancy Drew

Lucy

The day after McLovin came home after flying away, I bought Lucy.  I called the nearest pet store and asked if they had any hand fed female cockatiels.  They said none are handfed but you can catch some of them in the cage. I didn't really care since she was for McLovin anyway.  I drove to the petstore and walked in.  It was a small, dark, and smelly petstore that had several different types of birds.  A huge cockatoo was on top of a cage, screaming.  I went up to the bird and it raised a wing for me.  The petstore owner said the bird only does that to people it likes so it can be scratched under the wing.  After I left the cockatoo cage, I looked around at the other birds.  I spoke with the shop owner and explained what I was looking for.  She said she was the one I spoke with on the phone and she had pulled a cockatiel from the cage and had it in a different room.  She brought Lucy out on her shoulder.  In the store, Lucy was calm and just borderline friendly.  Fine, I'll take her.  I paid and gathered up my bird who was carefully stuffed in a box with holes and we left for home.  Once I got her home, I wanted to keep her separate from McLovin in case she had any kind of weird bird diseases.  The very first night she was with us, my brother stuck his hand in the cage to pick her up.  He was used to McLovin being friendly and wanting to be held.  Lucy bit Alan on the thumb and blood went everywhere.  He screamed and called her a devil.  That's how she got her name.  Lucy is officially short for Lucifer.  She's a lucky little bird. If she hadn't been so mean to my brother, her name was going to be Moose.

Lucy was  being cranky because she had eggs in the nesting box.

She was hissing and telling me to get away from her babies.

There were 4 eggs under her.  It was her first clutch.

Lucy on the lamp and McLovin on the couch.

Lucy and McLovin always tried to stay in places where I couldn't reach them. Little penguins.

It didn't take long for McLovin and Lucy to fall in love.  They make sexy time ALL THE TIME.

McLovin and Lucy on the couch at our apartment.

Lucy was being overly affectionate and climbed on my lap.

She stayed on my lap for hours that night.

Lucy loves popcorn!

They spent so much time on top of my armoire.  They chewed up the edges of the doors and played in the candleholders on top of the armoire.

Lucy was on a mission, climbing up the couch.

Lucy gave Mommy kisses!

Pretty Lucy on the swing.



She may be McLovin's wife, but she's my baby.  She is perfect for our family.  I didn't pick her out at the store, but I couldn't imagine another bird being a better fit.  We love Lucy Goosey and I want her to be with us always. 

~Nancy Barber

McLovin

McLovin is the first of my family.  I bought him soon after I moved to Missouri.  I got him when he was just a baby.

This is McLovin standing on my hand in 2010.

McLovin again on my hand in 2010.

This is a close up of McLovin. I'm not sure of the year. I'm guessing 2009-2010.

This was soon after I got McLovin.  2008

Mclovin guarding the first clutch of eggs.  Only one egg hatched but the poor baby didn't survive.

I got McLovin in early 2008.  He is my only male cockatiel.  He has such an amazing personality and is so full of character.  He is quite bossy and mouthy... so he fits right in.  He talks and whistles all the time.  He loves commercials on t.v. that whistle.  Right now, there is a febreeze commercial that whistles and he LOVES it. :)  He says "Hey McLovin! What're ya doin?  Come here! (sounds more like 'commere') Hey Baby"  He does the wolf whistle, the come here whistle, and he sings bits of the Andy Griffith Theme show song.  He used to whistle the entire song but now he just jumbles his favorite parts.

During McLovin's first year, he and I went EVERYWHERE together.  He has been in many different stores in Missouri and Arkansas.  We used to go shopping and go for car rides.  He would always stand on my shoulder as I walked and shopped.  He hopped onto an old lady's shoulder once in a pet store.  He wanted her earrings.  I remember so vividly how he grabbed those gold hoops and the lady just giggled like a little kid.  I was apologizing like crazy but she wasn't upset at all.  She was a delightful woman and we stood there and talked for about a half hour.  McLovin never tried to fly away during our shopping excursions.  Until... we were visiting my mom in Arkansas and I walked outside with McLovin on my shoulder.  There was a little devil child visiting with his parents that day.  The kid ran up the steps of the porch and right next to where I was sitting, he let out a loud trumpeting sound, like an elephant.  It startled little McLovin and he flew away into the woods near my parents house.  I was so heartbroken.  I didn't think I would ever see him again.  I just knew that with his bright yellow head, he would definitely stand out and be eaten before I could ever get him back.  I cried for him to come back.  I ran out in our yard and looked toward the direction that he went.  I yelled and whistled for him but I didn't see a sign of him. 

The next day, I was sitting on the porch with my mom.  We had been outside for a while just talking and enjoying the hot summer day.  I was chatting away and I stopped mid-sentence.... I thought... no, it couldn't be... wait...was it really?!  "Mom, that was McLovin! I heard his whistle!"  Mom kinda rolled her eyes and thought I was just hearing things because I missed McLovin so bad.  I ran to the front of the house in the yard and looked up in the trees.  I couldn't see anything but I yelled for him... "McLovin!!! You out there?!"  Nothing.  Didn't hear a peep.  I ran all the way around the house looking up in trees and calling for my baby.  Didn't hear him.  I called my brother and asked if he would come up and help me find my bird.  He came up with some binoculars.  I was sitting in a chair in the front yard, shaking a bag of potato chips, trying to lure McLovin down.  Without using binoculars, Alan (my brother) spotted McLovin in a tree.  I'm sure tears were in my eyes and I was so glad when I could actually see my baby... alive!

After about an hour of calling, whistling, and shaking potato chip bags, I finally got McLovin.  It took several tries for McLovin to fly to me.  He was not a very experienced flier and was HORRIBLE at landing...  Anyway, I stood in the driveway with 2 of my brothers and 1 neice and 1 nephew to lure that bird down out of the trees.  McLovin flew down to me and landed in the back of my brother's truck.  I grabbed him and ran in the house with him to give him food and water.  I sat holding him, crying.  I remember Mom just stared at us and said that she was amazed that he made it and that she didn't expect to see the little fella again.  I was so glad to have him back!  I sat with him for hours that night.  We talked about what he was doing outside in those trees overnight and I told him how much I missed him.  That night was when I told him I would buy him a girlfriend.  And that's exactly what I did.  The very next day, I bought Lucy.