Had a few wrinkles getting on board so big thanks again to Diane for sorting out the digital screening glitch and getting me on board. Live in a lush green part of Oz that is doing it's usual thing and having a stinking great run of hot weather. Still green from the cool wettish late spring we had, so I'm not too fussed over the bushfire potential at the moment. This is good, because I worry about such things. Nice part of the world though.
I am here because I am a birder at heart. Always have been, but always been too tired or distracted to actually own a bird in a cage since I was 16. Now I'm 57. Made friends with the locals though. King parrots, butcher birds, families of magpies and I have raised one tiny fledgling sparrow that I found in a building I was demolishing. Turned into a quite a character, when it wasn't hanging by it's beak off my ear lobe, he was free ranging across the 12 acres I then owned. He had a thing about ear lobes. Very sad when my 3 yr old daughter crushed it in an impassioned embrace.
In my youth I kept a few cockatiels, zebs, quails and had a young male goshawk and a little falcon. The two raptors were given to me as patients, since all my mates knew about my obsession with falconry. Trained both to fly to the fist, then they were released. So there you have it. The sum total of my avicultural life. Always, always intended to keep some birds, but only ever wanted to do it properly when I could settle down and give it the proper time and devotion to do it well.
The upshot of all this is - I know nothing and so I am here to learn and I thought I'd start with a canary. A good singer. I'll probably call it Napolean. Dunno why.
And for everyone here in OZ - starting this Saturday on ABC 1 at 6.30 - a show about birds and birders. William McInnes is a droll kind of bloke. Should be good. Below is a quote from the ABC -
"William McInnes gets up close and personal with some of Australia's diverse birdlife. With his offbeat sense of humour and a weird bag of tricks, William observes Australia's birdlife and the people who work alongside them."
Hi and welcome to the forum
