Saturday, April 22, 2006

Filled up with cake and punch

Today was a first for me. I went to a baby shower. A baby bird shower that is. We had shower games like pin the worm on the baby bird, name that bird song, and all those favorites. Much needed supplies were donated by participants for the preparation of the arrival of the baby birds.

We were having fun and also getting prepared for the 200 - 300 baby birds that Bird TLC gets every year. Chickadee's. Swallows, magpies, robins, you name it. Our participants in the seminar after the shower will become our Baby Bird Mom's or Dad's this year.

All the support they need for the safety and health of the birds is provided to them. They also will be riders on Bird TLC's permits with USF&G and Alaska Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. The soon to be new mom's or dad's will provide the time and effort. For those of you who never raised baby birds, it's a full time commitment for three to six weeks or more. These birds will need feeding every fifteen minutes or so at first. They will need protection from things we take for granted everyday.

We also were treated to an excellent presentation by DeAnne with a raven she presents for the Bird TLC Education Program. Corvids are very popular in the Anchorage area and there's a good possibility that we'll be the foster parents of a few this spring. DeAnne shared her experiences with us making us more aware of what to expect.

Cindy Palmatier, Karen Cody and Laura McGowan also shared their experiences with us from songbirds to baby ducks. We're all better prepared now thanks to all of them.

Thanks to The Pet Stop and The Pet Warehouse for sponsoring the shower and seminar.

2 comments:

robin andrea said...

Wow. Looks like you guys did a great job. I can't imagine feeding something every 15 minutes (is that 24 hours a day?). Talk about a commitment. I've been watching the eagle cam up on Hornby Island. It has really driven home how much of an investment these birds make to their offspring. Really amazing.

Dave Dorsey said...

That's most of the day, they do sleep through the night somewhat. The time interval gets further apart as they get older. That is a real neat cam.