Niamh ๐๐
Those of you who have been following us for a while will remember her rescue story & long recovery. Sadly, she was never claimed, but she's a beautiful soul who has found her forever home in our aviary after all she's been through ๐ ๐ฆ
Just look at her now!! She even has Huey flirting with her ๐ although she seems more interested in the sweet potato!
We'll never forget the kindness shown by all our friends when Niamh was first found, & Pam was nursing her back to health ๐๐ผ thank you.
#accessibility image description: a pair of budgies (1 female & 1 male) are on the side of the aviary interacting with each other.
It's been hot hot hot here in Wirral recently โ๏ธ hres Dusty having some chill time ๐
All the birds have been a little less lively, chilling in the cool shade, & enjoying baths, cold fruit & veg, & the aviary doors wide open for any breeze! (They're still secure behind aviary wire of course!)
๐ Bathing is a great opportunity for birds to keep cool in the summer heat
โ๏ธ Part-frozen fruit or veg is fine to give - it'll last a little longer, and also provides a challenge for busy beaks!!
๐ซ Just make sure your birds don't bathe too late on in the day, so that they're not damp or get a chill overnight. Also make sure you remove any old fresh food so they don't eat what may be spoilt.
Stay cool, fiends ๐
#Accessibility image description: a grey budgie is sat on an aviary perch chirping away.
Last week we had the pleasure of visiting one of our adopted birds, Ace โค๏ธ
We've kept in touch long distance, but Ace's mum actually adopted another bird (Dutch) from us! So of course it was a wonderful chance to see Ace in person, & witness first-hand how far he's come & how happy he is ๐ We think he even tried to give us a high-5 (photo in comments below) ๐๐ผ๐
Doesn't he look & sound so happy?๐ฆโค๏ธ
Thank you @my_minion_budgies
For giving a home to rescue budgies in need & for continuing to support our rescue in countless other ways too ๐ค
#accessibility image description: a video of a young male budgie sat on a perch, happily talking.
Blueberry & his wheatgrass ๐ฑ
We have some homegrown wheatgrass which after a few days being munched, sat on, bathed in, & sucked dry(!) has now seen better days ๐
Growing wheatgrass is super simple!
โป๏ธ Use recycled pots or fruit punnets
๐ค Coconut coir is a good choice for soil - it's budgie safe & easy to grow wheatgrass in.
๐ฉ๐ผโ๐พ Sprinkle the wheatgrass seeds & cover with more soil/coir
๐งWater to moisten soil, a little every day. Touch first to test if it needs water. You may need to add more water initially as the coir is rather dry!
โ๏ธ Place in a warm / sunny position.
๐ฑ After only a few days you'll see little, glorious life sprouting up through the soil.
๐ฆ Once your wheatgrass is sprouting, you can either cut as strands of grass & give to your bird as though you would lettuce etc, or you csn simply preaent the whole pot for them to nibble, suck, forage, or bathe in!
Have you grown your own veg, herbs, wheatgrass or sprouted seeds? We'd love to see pics of your results & your birds enjoying them ๐
#accessibility image description: a video of a recessive pied male budgie eating wheatgrass from a pot, while he is stood on a cage top perch.
Thank you friends @robbiebleu for the tag across the pond on 4th July ๐บ๐ฒ
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Here's our little cutie pie reel of Rio having a good scritch scratch ๐๐
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We'll also dedicate this to @loveallbudgiesday which we're SO very late for!! However in our lives it's a 24/7 love all budgies ๐
#friends #electionday #vote #july4th #hope #future #change #lovebudgies #votebudgie #budgierescuewirral #rio #budgiesofinstagram #loveallbudgiesday
Our girl ๐๐ Niamh update ๐๐
She has an admirer in the aviary ๐
Seems that Niamh has a sugar daddy ๐คญ
Albeit he's going about it by annoying her... Niamh is sat on the aviary door enjoying the view outside (she often likes to sit there)....but someone has other ideas & tried to gain her attention by touching her leg ring ๐คญ
Cuteness as she begins to bond with the flock. She's a lovely character & very gentle. She's quite a heavy flier so not always that accurate & lacks endurance, but that doesn't stop her ๐๐
#Accessibility image description: a video of two budgies, one male & one female. The male is trying to gain the females attention by touching her leg, as she appears to gently warn him off.
#budgiesofinstagram #budgierescuewirral #niamh #ourgirl
Lani & his messy beak ๐๐พ๐ฅ
A healthy mix of veg & sprouted seeds for the boys = messy beaks all round!
Recipes inspired by @parrotsfinecuisine cookbook ๐
Video also featuring the cute, bumbling Walt in the background ๐
#Accessibility image description: video of a male blue budgie approaching the camera. He is happy & playful. His beak has vegetables on it after him eating from the bowl of chop & sprouted seeds.
#parrotsfinecuisine #parrot #budgie #budgerigar #budgierescuewirral #lani
Lani doing his best to woo Budge ๐๐
Male budgies can be so affectionate with each other & it's a lovely bromance to see...
However, Budge is such a 'judgy budgie' & despite Lani's best efforts, Budge doesn't reciprocate ๐ฅบ
Look at Lani's eye pinning though ๐
#Accessibility image description: a video of 2 male budgies interacting. One is talking to the other very excitedly, beak tapping & eye pinning. The other stands listening.
No you're eyes aren't deceiving you... It's not Pip ๐
Introducing, Blueberry, a new member of Lou's crew ๐ฆ
Proper introduction to come soon ๐๐ค
And this is Pam proving she's the budgie whisperer ๐พ๐ฆ
#Throwback to Pip scritches ๐ฅฐ
๐ค๐ Honestly, this is a rarity. I could count on one hand how often he's wanted / let this happen. Yet I spend so much time playing & caring for this little floof who started it all at Budgie Rescue HQ ๐ฆ๐
We take our rescues as they come. Some are 'tame', trained, others not so much. We take them into our homes & love them regardless.
I like to think Pip has a wonderful life - showered with love, toys, budgie brothers & everything else in between for his health & wellbeing. Same for all our flock.
A tickle loving, finger tame, talking budgie is great. It's cute, fun, makes a good Instagram photo/video! However, many are not tickle loving, finger tame, & don't talk. That's ok. They still have so much about them for us to love, enjoy, & value.
Birds, like us, are all unique; they have their different personalities, preferences - plus some rescues may have had a different start to their lives. All which we need to respect. Investment in time, attention, gaining their trust, respect & an enriched, fulfilled life definitely helps.
We often get adoption requests for 'tame' budgies but can rarely meet this request; we're a rescue taking birds of all personalities, ages, life experiences. Plus, sometimes our birds have been found - so we literally know nothing about them! So many factors impact. Although it's not to say they won't change, many are proof of that & testament to their cognition & emotional intelligence ๐๐ผ
๐ Love your bird as they are
๐ธ Share the joy & what you value about your bird, however they come. Don't compare to others you might see out there
๐ค Be open to education & learning more about birds
โจ Invest in time, enrichment, build trust
๐ You are your birds whole world (whether they appear to acknowledge & thank you for that or not! ๐
)
๐๐ป YOU have the power to give them their best life
#accessibility image description: a video of a male, recessive pied budgie. He's stood
๐ World Budgie Day ๐
#ThrowbackThursday to that time when Lou couldn't have the leftovers that she had planned for...
Yep, Rio turned the tupperware of veg into a bath! He certainly picks his moments ๐ฌ๐๐ฅฆ๐ฅฌ
N.B. we definitely encourage you to feed your budgie(s) vegetables. Usually, your own leftovers are fine (IF they are bird safe veg). However you MUST NOT serve your budgies any veg which has had salt / seasoning added to the water in the boiling process or from your plate. Also, you must not leave birds unattended in kitchen areas.
#accessibility image description: a budgie is shown in a video trying to take a bath in a tupperware box of green vegetables.
#WorldBudgieDay
Apologies for the regurgitation transmission over your lunchtime... we interrupt your lunch break to show the the love between these 2 boys, Bean ๐ & Budge ๐
For these two, it really was a bromance at first sight!
#accessibility image description: a video of two male budgies kissing & regurgitating with each other.
T.H.A.N.K. Y.O.U
We want to say a huge thank you to Kirsty for her generous donation of budgie essentials, toys, & treats ๐
We accept Kirsty's generous donation in memory of her own budgie, Sage ๐๐๏ธ
Here's Garlic enjoying one of Kirsty's gifts ๐คฉ Garlic is a nosy hen with a busy beak - she dived onto it after 5mins of it being up!
Thank you Kirsty xx
#accessibility image description: a video of a while female budgie playing & chewing at a ball toy, while other budgies are in the background of the aviary.
When your life has never involved foraging before, but now you discover the joy in it ๐ค๐
Billy is new to our rescue. He's been surrendered, finished his quarantine, & has already secured himself a shiny new home through adoption! He's been adventuring during his foster placement with Lou, & found fun in foraging for millets ๐๐คค๐พ
#accessibility image description: a male blue and white budgie is foraging in a wooden tray for seeds. The tray is filled with natural materials, safe paper etc.
"They try to hide millets from us, but we seek it. Find it. Eat it. Then they praise us for our clever foraging findings, so we can then repeat our trade again another day".
Budge, Lani, & Bean.
#accessibility image description: a video of 3 male budgies foraging for millet in a wooden tray which is filled with bird safe toys & materials.
Just a couple of budgies, chilling out on the wine rack ๐๐ท
#accessibility image description: a video of two budgies sat on a wooden wine rack in an aviary. One budgie is green & yellow, the other is a white female budgie.
Sound up ๐๐ถ
Here's some of the aviary flock enjoying natural grasses that were kindly gifted to us ๐พ
These are very similar to millet or the pick & fly mix we know some of you like. We just tie up bunches to the aviary walls or stuff then into toys etc to creat some enrichment opportunities. They're always a popular choice activity for the birds (especially the hens!)
You can see just how much they love a nibble, forage, & explore ๐
#accessibility image description: several budgies are seen on bunches of natural grasses, as they explore, eat them, & pick at the grass seed heads.
Ollie & his millet stash ๐
We had a visitor today, who bought us some red millet treats. Just look at how quick Ollie was to dig in ๐ yum yum nom nom!
Boo also makes a brief appearance as he *quite literally* jumps in on the action!
Ollie & Dash are two of our rescue boys who have disabilities. Both are ex exhibition breeder English budgies. They struggle with flying, walking, & excess feathers can impair their vision. They may need extra care & adaptations, but otherwise they enjoy the same life opportunities as our able-bodied flock ๐ฅฐ
Thank you Tweet Retreats Birdie Boarding for popping by & bringing our treats ๐พ
