My bird has a really bad habit of needing to be within a few feet of me 24/7.  If I leave his line of sight to brush my teeth, do the dishes, grab some laundry, play piano, etc. 90% of the time he will fly to me.  If he can’t find me, he will shoot like a rocket in circles around the apartment, screaming…until crash landing in my hair.  And begging for cuddles.

Silly cockatiel did not like his shadow and kept attacking and hissing at it. Sunset light streaming through the windows apparently is more amusing than the $$$ bird toys hanging in his cage unused.

Turned in my final assignment for my photojournalism class. We had a guest speaker, named Steve Simon, who is part of the Apple campus lecture series hawking the Aperture 2.1 program. Thoroughly enjoyed his presentation showcasing all the work he did in Rwanda, AIDS in Africa, Sept 11, and subtle political jabs with his Republican series. A little heavy on the software plugs, but that was part of the package.

At the end of the lecture, his Apple dude entourage distributed a free copy of Aperture 2.1 ($200 software that was just release this past March) to every student. Pretty awesome, except I don’t own a Mac.

Went back to the bird place this afternoon, a few more shots…

Full album

My final project for my photojournalism class is to do a photostory. Rather than do what had been done hundreds of times before, like interview firefighters, following student life, or showcasing a band, I decided to drive to the only Central Texas rescue and rehab center for exotic birds. Situated on 3 acres of land it houses over 90 birds, of which 70% are rescue cases that come in from all over the country. They receive no help from the government and rely solely on private donations. Many of the birds are permanent residents, which is a huge commitment considering the lifespans of parrots can reach up to 100+ years. Therefore several birds end up at AARR because of a death in the family, not abuse or negligence.

This is Jerry Nolan, the co-founder of the organization with Michael Glend Haley who recently passed away in 2005. Very nice guy, extremely knowledgeable about birds as he has run the aviary for over two decades. He personally greeted me when I walked up to the door, showed me around, and explained pretty much everything about AustinAvianRR and J&M aviaries.

Very peaceful place. There are trees everywhere to provide shade for the various bird enclosures, a few ponds, benches, lots of flowers and plants. There’s a memorial garden for Michael Haley in the sanctuary.

The white cockatoo is an amazing speaker. I was walking around and here the clearest “Hello” imaginable from a bird. We chatted for awhile, then he said “Bye bye” at least ten times when I walked away.

So I need to organize everything from today and do some research on Homer the Homeless Goose who is apparently a major Austin icon. All in all, was great fun and will probably head back for followup.

[More pictures here]