Today's update

Currently mourning the loss of my yellow turquoisine cock bird who sadly passed away this morning. See his photo on the right side of the page.

+ R I P +

On a happier note; after checking the nest boxes today I was pleased to find 11 budgie eggs, 1 cockatiel egg, and 5 Java sparrow eggs. Good luck to them! This will be the first year that my current Java sparrows and cockatiels have chosen to breed, they were still young last year. I'll keep you posted of any developments.

Been re-arranging all the branches and perches in the outdoor flight. Now there's more space for me to get around without my birds losing anything. What's more I have made all my re-arrangements secure, so no more unexpected collapsing perches and branches.

I've also started taking down the walls of the old - now unused - night shelter and replacing with mesh panels, this will allow more sunshine into that side of the aviary.

If you don't know what I'm on about; when I first built my current aviary two years ago I also built a night shelter into my design because I didn't have a shed or anything similar to use at the time. Last year I extended the flight area and also incorporated a shed that I scrounged, repaired, insulated, draught-proofed, and boarded-out as a night shelter and thus making the old night shelter redundant. However up until now the old night shelter remained with just the front wall removed and became a part of the flight area. I am trying to dismantle it a bit at a time and replace with mesh panels.

A point or two to contemplate.

When furnishing your aviary with branches and perches etc. make sure they are secure and don't make the same mistake as I did, unexpected falls will scare your birds. It's sorted now.

My next point is that sometimes you will lose birds for no apparent reason. Yes it is upsetting but unfortunately you will have to learn to accept it, believe me it gets easier with time. Give them the best you can however and you will undoubtedly limit the risk.