BOAF Bulletin Express

Birds Die From...

By Debbie Stahre

Home Alone Bird By Lisa Armitage

Three years ago, I came home from work one day and found several police cruisers and a rescue squad in front of my apartment building. As I entered the building I found my apartment crawling with police officers. When I asked them what the problem was, they relayed the following incident.

The 911 emergency line had received a call from my neighbor. She was concerned because she could hear a child calling "mommy" in my apartment. Of course, the department responded fearing there was an abandoned child. They said they had knocked on my door and the response coming from inside was, "mommy?" They entered the apartment and searched high and low. But, they couldn’t find a child. An officer standing next to Harley’s cage noticed her looking at him. Harley was my Blue Headed Pionus. The officer said, "Hello." Harley bowled him over by responding, "Mommy? Ha ha ha!!" She was quite impressed with herself for drawing all this attention. The officers stated that it was a call for the records.

Auction Raffle Donations Needed

BOAF will have a raffle table at the Spring Auction. Help raise money for the club by donating bird related items, especially birds. Lisa is putting together another of her much sought after hospital tanks. She has already raffled off all club birds. Can you help by donating one? Even a normal grey cockatiel baby would be greatly appreciated. Call Lisa at (603) 622-3874.

If you don’t have birds or bird related items, how ‘bout donating some food for the kitchen! Chille and American Chop Suey are always popular. Or, bring a dessert item. Being a chocoholic, I recommend brownies but cupcakes or other baked goods are fine. Call Denise or Don at (603) 893-8870.

Secretary’s Report: Meeting of February 9, 1998

Presentation: Australian Birds by Karen Herman

The meeting was called to order at 7:55 pm by Denise Bourgault. The first order of business was a presentation showing the unique sandblasted glass pictures available to BOAF members through Pet ‘n Coat Junction. Illustrated was an illuminated African grey carving mounted on an oak base. Other sizes and styles (including mirrors) are available as are carvings of other animals.

The carvings can be in the form of plaques to be used as awards at the fall show for top prize in each class.

Pam Ellis described her suggestion for a BOAF fundraiser. She will find some Beanie Babies at reasonable prices and buy them for the club. BOAF will auction or raffle them at higher prices to make a profit. Since the initial investment is small, we decided to pursue this.

Karen Herman gave a fantasic slide presentation and description of the Australian birds raised in her aviary One Flight Up. The presentation on feeding, actually applies to all birds. If the light had been brighter, this report would be longer. More details will be provided when I get the notes Karen promised.

After another great raffle (no, Lisa didn’t win the wine this month) and the 50-50 drawing, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 pm.

How I named My Birds by Linda A. Pytko

I have a four-year-old female White Capped Pionus. I got her while she was still being hand fed. It was quite an experience. I took my time naming her – I wanted the name to be her and to reflect her. Well I didn’t have to wait very long. She constantly groomed herself and scratched herself as the pinfeathers were coming in. So I named her Scratch. And appropriately so because she is an itch. She gives me moments of tremendous laughter and fun.

I also have an eight month old male Blue Head Pionus. Right from the get go we had problems with his flight feathers breaking and bleeding. I had to learn first aid real quickly. I shudder to mention the vet bills and the nights I sat up with him because I was afraid he would break another blood feather. He flapped his wings all the time! Well, anyway, because of all the problems with his feathers I named him Quille (the e is silent).

The first time he spoke I was so startled. He asked me, "What are you doing?" Obviously, he was copying me. Now, he has quite a vocabulary. It includes all nice words except one. I’ve made a point of not using that word anymore, especially where he can hear it.

I have a two-year-old male Dutch Blue Lovebird who is so sweet and has a very nutty personality. Thus his name is Pecan. He follows me around the house like a little tramp Charlie Chaplin. I doubt that I’ll ever use him as a breeder since he is such a perfect pet. He has never bitten me even when I was hand feeding him, clipping his wings and toenails or doing something else.

I have other birds, but they are not pets. [Ed. Question: Do people name the birds they raise but do not consider companions or pets?]

Publishing this month’s bulletin presented a new challenge. I got more articles than I had space for in this spring auction month bulletin. Thank you all and keep the stories coming! If you already sent or gave me something, and it isn’t in this issue, look in next month’s bulletin

Ginny was working feverishly on a library update but missed the March issue. March of which year was that Ginny? Would anyone else like to contribute? Although most of the information for the bulletin arrives by e-mail, it doesn’t have to. The U.S. Postal System still delivers mail.

I’m glad to include articles from several members. If you have something to be published, give it to me at a meeting or send it to:

Ray Schwartz
19 Olde Common Drive
Atkinson, NH 03810-2177

or e-mail them to editor@boaf.com

or call me at (603) 362-6106

The directors have agreed BOAF will publish announcements promoting other bird club events provided they promote ours. Many members go to shows in Massachusetts, Connecticut or New York. This should make it easier to find them than searching the fine print in the back of Bird Talk magazine.

Do you have any bird related information or announcements you would like published?

Final Reminder!!

If you haven’t already done so, renew your membership for 1998! Otherwise, this will be the last BOAF bulletin you receive.

Webmasters Report By Allen Fox

As March rolls in it is time for new features to be added to our site. Over the last month I have added some new links and our articles are now online. As new articles are submitted for entry into the bulletin and you have pictures to go with the article, send them along. The picture will be placed online with your article. When our Editor receives new articles they will be published online prior to appearing in the bulletin. So don’t wait, there is a lot of knowledge in our club, let’s share it. We will also open an online store for members and non-members to order T’s and sweatshirts from Ron. With the Auction coming up soon we now have the Auction Rules online. This way, non-members can find how it works and hopefully some will join us.

The club has also decided to publish Online Ads as we do in the bulletin. These will be a fixed size and can display animated gif’s. That means you can create an ad, which is made up of different pictures and words, then played back repeatedly. This now allows you to advertise your product or service on our site. The rates are published in the March bulletin. The ads are to be placed on a new Home Page as well as other pages to give them wide exposure. Even if you are not connected to the Web, this allows you to advertise to an expanded audience. What this all means is that we are looking for sponsors (advertisers) for our web site to help support our club. If you are interested in placing an ad, or know of a company that would like to advertise, contact me. As always suggestions are always welcome.

Report on Directors Meeting - February 16, 1998.

Roger Hamlin called the meeting to order at 7:40 pm. The calendar of events was reviewed again and remained unchanged. Most events have already been confirmed.

A prize (long overdue) for Dave Smith, who sold the most raffle tickets for the fall show, was discussed . Sorry, can’t tell you. It’s a surprise. Karen Small will purchase the gift and bring it to the March meeting.

The location for the fall bird show was finalized. We concluded that the St. Francis gym will have sufficient space for our annual show and bird mart. The Manchester High School gym and cafeteria, although larger, can not be booked far enough in advance for this event.

It was decided that we couldn’t wait until September to confirm the date and then begin advertising.

Rules for advertising on the BOAF web site were debated and established. They are published on Page 3 and are not repeated herein. They were approved unanimously by the officers and directors who expect them to raise more than enough money to pay for the web site.

Final plans for the March auction were tabled until the March meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Next Directors Meeting

Date: March 16, 1998
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Steve Tanner’s Home

Agenda: This meeting of the Board of Directors will be to finalize the details for the March auction. It is open to all members. Please let Steve know in advance if you plan to attend so he will put out enough chairs.

If you are not an Officer or Director, but want to volunteer to help with the auction, please come to the directors meeting or contact one of them. Or, just show up early at the auction ready to work!