Whoa! A huge wind a blowin'!

[Mare]

Most of you know about the California drought and here in central Cal it's been awfully dry. A hurricane has been working it's way up Baja and has dumped huge amounts of water in southern Cal. We've been hoping it might come and give us some relief farther north. Well, the wind picked up here, super fast and just dropped an old pine in the yard and Amigo is plastered, in place, to an oak tree off the deck! Tim and my sons helped me to peel him off his branch by holding the ladder I had to climb to go get him. Once the weather kicks up, Amigo doesn't budge. He won't come when I call, he just hangs tight..smart bird!

All is well now, feedings coming down..now, just waiting for the rain! Come on..RAIN!

What's the weather doing where you all are at?

[Mare]

HALLELUJAH!! WHOOHOO! :th_biggrin:

[spiritbird]

That's scary. It would be nice if he could be trained to come indoors with the first sign of bad weather. It must really frighten him.

[Zoo mom]

Hope you get your much needed rain. We would gladly send you some of ours. Saturday we got 3 inches of rain over 2 hours.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Amigo has missed an opportunity, he could have let the wind spin him around the metal pole. Good luck with the rain. Bright and breezy here - perfect day for sailing but got to work.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Ah, a bit breezier than we thought. We were sitting in the garden enjoying* the roar of the rush hour traffic having a glass or two, Casper was on his favourite branch in the Magnolia tree preening himself. He was just getting into a bit of serious butt feather preening when there was a big gust of wind that blew him off the perch into the Japonica bush just below. With nothing firm to stand on he had to be rescued but then wanted to go back into the bush as it seemed a fun place to be. We are not sure whether the berries are safe for parrots - song birds love them but they are mildly poisonous to humans so we had to spoil his fun and come indoors.

[PeachyDoll]

Thank God you got Amigo in. I hope you get the much needed rain you so desperately need. It ought to be a wet season with El Nino in full effect.

[Mr Peepers]

I'm glad you are getting some much needed rain Mare, it can help dampen the fires you've had your way. Poor Amigo not wanting to come home and in the house despite the wind.

[Mare]

Well, our much needed rain came all around us but not here at home :(. We may have gotten 1/8 of an inch, if that. Now in town it was a whole 'nother story! They got pounded!! Flash floods where there have never been any before! My daughter and her boyfriend were on a hike when it hit them, they were almost three miles from their parked car. Katie said she's never experienced such a downpour and the winds almost blew them off their feet! She said that by the time they finally got back to the car, they were drenched to the bone!

Dianne, when the wind hit us here, it came fast and strong, no warning. Amigo will normally come in when the weather picks up and I think he was trying but by the time he was almost back, the wind was whipping and swirling from all directions. When this happens, he just hunkers down and hangs on tight. I think he knows that's the safest thing to do.

Zoo mom, I also wish you could send us some rain :). An El Niño sounds good to me PeachyDoll! Jean-Pierre, sounds like Casper is getting a taste for the bushes. I tend to think it feels good to them to rub their feathers in the leaves. Once in awhile I'll see Amigo jump off the railing around the deck and plop down into the middle of a lilac bush. He rolls around in there and when the plant is flowering he nibbles on the buds.

[94lt1]

Being in the Texas gulf..I'm not wanting any tropical nothing...LOL..glad you guys are getting some rain..

El niño will keep things at bay for us this year..thankfully.. I hate having to evac..we didn't evac for ike..it wasn't that bad..but I've been through hurricanes before.

[Mare]

A hurricane would be scary! Brandon, I hope our El Niño (if it happens, fingers crossed)..helps you out! :)

[Lady]

Oh how wonderful Cali is getting some way overdue and much needed rain! This is the best news I've heard today. Here it was quite hot but at least the extreme humidity has lessened. Hope it stays that way for a bit.

[PlaxMacaws]

One element of nature that I'm dreading here is the huge expected earthquake we're supposed to experience sometime soon - which they keep referring to as "the BIG ONE!" I live within the region of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Experts have been speculating that the CSZ is due to undergo a massive plate shift in the near future. I've read that the result could produce a level 9 quake in my area. I certainly worry about my birds, who are nearly always inside my house. I wonder if they will be able to survive an incident as hugely impactful as this BIG ONE is predicted to be. They're out of their cages for the majority of each day and I realize that this very fact may have the greatest potential to kill or severely injure them, since they would be trapped in the building and would naturally panic. And then there's the important concern that, quite possibly, things like emergency veterinary care and necessary utilities and supplies may become unavailable for extended periods. It's frightening to think about :(

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[Mare]

I've been reading about this huge earthquake that's expected and living on the west coast of the country makes me always expecting/always ready but always thinking, too. God/dear Universe..help us if we have a huge disaster. If I felt a terrible rumble, I would open my doors and windows, knock out the screens and let my birds go!

[PlaxMacaws]

I've been reading about this huge earthquake that's expected and living on the west coast of the country makes me always expecting/always ready but always thinking, too. God/dear Universe..help us if we have a huge disaster. If I felt a terrible rumble, I would open my doors and windows, knock out the screens and let my birds go!Great thought. But that might be a rather difficult thing to achieve in the midst of the violent shaking when things are crumbling and falling everywhere. Standing upright may even present a challenge during a level 8+ quake! And the damage can occur so quickly that our best of intent may not be nearly enough. It takes a bit of time to open doors and windows, knock out screens, and round up multiple terrified birds :(. If/when this huge shaker happens, perhaps (and hopefully) Amigo will already be outside and hopefully your area won't sustain the brunt of the force, Mare.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

I have read that birds seem to sense when there is a forthcoming seismic event and begin to act strangely. So you may have your own early warning system if you can tell what is abnormal in a macaw.

[Mare]

Yeah, in theory, I would have time to run around, open windows, knock out screens and get the birds out :). Do you remember when the big Loma Prieta/San Francisco earthquake happened in the late 80's? It was a 6.9 magnitude quake. We live around 3hr. drive , southwest from there, and never felt a thing, nothing! I have felt some rollers where we live but nothing bad, not yet anyways. I remember Tim saying at that time, "we will have beach front property one day!", God forbid!!

[Mare]

Oops! We live southEAST of Frisco! My dyslexia was flaring up again, sorry :)

[94lt1]

We regularly practice evac plans with our birds. .not kidding. Everything from fire, to gas leak, to evac called for hurricanes.. Even my 13 year old can shut down the gas to the house in 2 seconds...but in case of fire..his job is to get out..the birds are on us..