This is me, Natalie.

I've been a bird lover since I was 8 when I was first introduced to birds by a wonderful aunt of mine who has devoted her life to saving birds. Either British native birds or birds that she rescued and from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. I spent a few summers with her hand feeding babies and generally helping her out, unknowingly setting myself up for an addiction!!! Also whilst she was bringing some of the birds back to England my mum offered to house some of them as they had to be in quarantine, this was my first contact with Indian ringnecks.

My first birds were budgie's and also my first 'rescue'. I haven't stopped since, much to the annoyance of my family (its the 6am wake-up in particular)

I live in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in England, next to the Grand Union Canal in Apsley.

I have 3 children, Nicara, Leon and Archie. Leon who is 13 has A.D.H.D. (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and is my apprentice in saving birds.

The Grand Union Canal	This is my favourite bistro in the marina a stones throw from my house	Apsley Lock	Leon, Archie and Nicara, my angels

VIDEOS
	A narrow boat passing thru a lock

Marley is a 3 year old Indian Ringneck parakeet.

Unfortunately he spent the first year and a half of his life with a family who were unaware how independent Marley could be. So they kept him in a room away from the rest of the family and eventually got bored of him, this is where i came into his life.

After many months of just sitting in the room with Marley, softly talking to him as i got closer to his cage he now allows me to feed him and is brave enough to come out of his cage.

He is incredibly nosey, and this is what has helped him come out of his shell a bit more, that and his addiction for nuts and grapes!!

Marley isn't tolerant enough to share HIS room with any other birds and will only allow people to come in when it suits him. He lets you know in no uncertain terms with the loudest double squawk. He can be incredibly noisy at times, which is one of the reasons he was neglected in his last home. But we don't mind if he is a bit anti social, we all like our own company sometimes!!!!

Admiring oneself in the window	The odd occasion Marley will entertain toys	Curiosity got the better of him	Fruit stealer
One of my favourite shots, showing his beautiful tail	What does that face say to you?	oh quick mum I'm in a bit of a panic!	One of the 1st times he took food from my hand
Giving the cam the evils	what shall i destroy next!	Ok i know what i want to do now	I'm gonna help with the washing up!

VIDEOS
	Marley squawking
	Marley on the peanut bowl
	(25/04/2007) Marley and his new bridge... yum!!!

Woody is a 3 year old Cockatiel.

The 1st 3 years of his life were spent high up on top of a fridge freezer in a cage meant for carrying parrots whilst traveling!! His cage was bare of any toys and by the state of his water dish you could see it had been left to dry up completely on a regular basis!!!

His crest was almost non existent when he 1st arrived with us, but its now growing through thick and fast, he was also a little underweight due to lack of minerals but now has a nice layer of fat over his little ribcage.

He now spends his days on the outside of his outsized cage, wolf whistling and kissing anyone who needs a bit of love. oh and admiring himself in the mirror.

Getting used to the barless view	One of the 1st times Woody stepped up	Woody sharing breakfast with my boyfriend José	Nothing goes to waste in this house!
Venturing out	New cage, new view, happy birdie	I can use these to fly??	The days before freedom

VIDEOS
	Woody eating shreddies
	Loving cockatiel
	(25/04/2007) José and Woody
	(25/04/2007) Woody in the tree

Gary is an 8 month old parrotlet.

He was wrongly sold as a Budgie and placed in a cage with other budgies as he was wanted for breeding!! Anyway he attacked and killed all the budgies, gaining an eye injury in the process. He was then passed on to a pet store where he sat for 4 months being ignored by everyone until i came along and just had to have him.

We haven't bonded yet as his partial sightedness is making progress slow but he is getting used to the noises and smells of our house and with time i'm hoping to gain his trust. Just updating you on Gary's progress. We discovered after a trip to the vet that Gary has cataracts which the vet suspects is congenital. but apart from that he is absolutely fine, the vet said as long as his quality of life isn't affected severely he doesn't see why Gary shouldn't live a happy life. This has put my mind at rest knowing there is no infection.

Gary has settled in nicely here and joins in with the rest of the flock for the regular lung exercises!!! Sometimes he actually instigates it all!!! But as long as he is still singing i know he is happy which is all that matters. :)

Check out his first video clip!!!

Gary does cute so well don't you think?	Still not too happy being too close	still avoiding!!!	who's that?

VIDEOS
	(25/04/2007) Gary having a morning chirp

Piggy is a 6 month old kakariki.

Piggy was for sale in a pet store along with her mate, but her mate was sold alone!!!! so that along with the fact she had no access to minerals or a spacious cage to climb around meant she lost quite a considerable amount of weight, so the lady in the pet store gave her to me for free and asked i take care of her and fatten her up, which is what I've done.

She now spends the day hanging around her cage, literally!! She is so comical to watch, who needs t.v. She isn't allowing any contact yet but is slowly getting used to us all.

Millet one of her fav's	Using her spidey senses	A chilled moment	Trying to avoid the cam!!

VIDEOS
	Piggy climbing in her cage

This is Eggbert (right) and Sophia (left), a pair of Lovebirds.

They are my naughty for the month!! I saw them both and fell in love. They are settling into their new cage so I cant get so many pics at the moment, but as soon as they are settled Ill update them.

Checking us out	Wondering where they are	Eggbert	So cute

VIDEOS
	Their first appearance on cam!!!

This is poncho. He was given to me as a hen and was being bullied by all the cocks in the cage.But after giving Poncho the once over we noticed he had a bad case of scaley mites bless him. So after several days of applying vaseline to his cere and beak we discovered he was infact a cock after all!! So the story about being attacked for being the only Hen was infact not true, Poncho was being attacked because he was so poorly bless him! But as you can see by the before and after pics he is doin really well.

He has settled in nicely and can now be heard with the rest of my flock chattering and chirping away as happy as he should be.

Before...	Before...	After	After

VIDEOS
	Reggie eating seed on the floor

Bath time!!!	Soaking the front room	When Marley first arrived and discovered bath time	Oh for crying out loud!!! no more pics!
Now baths and showers any opportunity, especially when someone is vacuuming	They didn't like it at first but now they love to shower