Connie Mazur

My full name is Constance Thoms-Mazur, but everyone knows me as Connie, my husband Leo and I have been married for 21 years. During that time I have managed to befriend quite a few furry and feathered critters including one leopard turtle named Myrtle, (who was a big hit at our annual Bird club Picnic) and an ornery Iguana named Iggy. We currently have in residence a black lab named Shadow, who takes after the Energizer Bunny, a Siamese named Foo who when I am home is attached to me at the hip, a Chinchilla named Chichi, and a flock of birds.

When I got married I didn't intend to get involved with birds, it just happened. I never had a bird while growing up, my mother was deathly afraid of them and so it wasn't even a consideration. It all started when I wanted to get a lizard and Leo thought it would be nice to have a bird, so when we went to the pet shop I spotted this little blue budgie hanging up-side down in his cage. Not knowing anything about birds I picked that one. We called (him) Dipsy Doodle (his is a story for another day). The next Valentines day, Leo bought me two Love birds, well they were friends and didn't appreciate me; so when a friend at work needed a home for one of her birds we got Mickey Moose, I think you can guess where this is going. To date we have a Military Macaw named Charlie, a neurotic Umbrella named Roo, a BlueFront named Burdy, a loud mouth Nanday named Mickey Moose, a Lilac Crown named Mookie (he thinks he is an only bird), Pepper the African Grey who is madly in love with me and LEO'S BIRD a parrotlet named Pauley. These are the main cast of characters. We also have flight cage with an assortment of Cockatiels, Love Birds and exotic Parakeets.

I work in a Nursing Home as a secretary in the Employee Health/ Infection Control Office. When the home wanted to get birds for the facility I was responsible for obtaining the 12 Cockatiels and 4 Budgies and making sure that we had fulfilled all the New Jersey State requirements for housing birds in a Nursing Home setting.

Leo is an Electrical Contractor with crazy long hours, so the care and feeding of everyone belongs to me. That's o.k. though because the animals are really my passion, I don't know what I would do with out them. When I hear all the “HELLO'S, How you doing? Peek a boo I see you, when I come home from work, it makes all worth it.

Leo and I have been members of SCEBC for approximately 4 years and have really enjoyed ourselves. We both like the fact that it's a relatively small club and we have a lot of laughs a lot of fun and find it very informative. We really have gotten some fantastic speakers and I have learned a lot about my birds, their health and their environment both at home and in the wild.

Although Leo can't make most of the meetings he has made time for the Picnics and especially the Christmas party where I have a habit of winning the prizes. We also have two other major hobbies, Scuba Diving and Cross Country Skiing; so our (free) time is pretty much non-existent.

I hope to continue my association with SCEBC and look forward to learning more about my faithful companions.

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Mary Owens

Hi. My name is Mary Owens and I am happy to be a new member of the SCEBC. I have always been interested in all types of animals and pet birds are my latest interest. I will have 2 cockatiels in my home by December. I have enjoyed meeting and E-Mailing many of you with my questions.

I grew up with dogs (shelties) and now have a female sheltie "DaisyMay" and a male collie "Carey". As a child I also had hamsters, fish, turtles and a lizard. I never had a bird—I called my parents the other night to ask why, and was told that birds are dirty and carry disease (I’ll have to remember to clean the cages right before they come to visit!)

A few years ago I ventured into the world of guinea pigs. For 2 years I was a 4-H leader of a guinea pig club. My 15 year old son and I had up to 22 guinea pigs. We would take them to visit mentally handicapped people and sell their babies at the Sussex County Fair. My son won a big trophy for the best guinea pig in the fair! We now have 1 pig left: "Buddy" who is not a beauty queen, but has a great personality.

As for birds… I have loved watching and feeding wild birds for years. I have many bird feeders and birdhouses in my yard. (2 years ago a bear came right up on my deck and took 1 of my feeders so we only feed in the winter now). My husband and I also like to go on nature walks and bird watching. Recently I purchased a bird feeder that attaches to the window and had a 2-way mirror, so that we will be able to watch the birds up close. Very exciting!

At this time I own 2 baby cockatiels that live in the pet store. One is a pearly pied (learned that in the SCEBC library book!) and his name is "Piazza", after Mike Piazza the catcher on the Mets. "He" will be my 8-year-old son’s bird for Christmas.

The other bird is a lutino. This is actually the 2^nd lutino that I have picked, but the first one had trouble. I had visited her everyday for about 3 weeks and every thing was fine until one day her feet were paralyzed and she could not grip anything with her feet. She would fall over, but ate well and showed no other sign of illness. The pet store owner put her on antibiotics and in 3 days she was much better. I had wondered if she was injured, had a stroke, or some other neurological damage.

After much research and help from other members I decided not to take that bird and picked another pretty lutino. The bird’s name is Mildred Naiman or "Millie". She is named after a woman that I never knew, but died in the Sept 11^th tragedy.

The days after the tragedy I was on the Internet and there was a partial list of the dead and missing. Most of the names had ages and place of employment or schools after them. Mildred Naiman had nothing, so I had to find out about her. After some detective work I found out that she was on the 2^nd plane that crashed into the towers (I had watched that live on TV) and was 81 years old. She lived alone in her own home in MA and was going to visit her son in CA. Her obituary said that she was exceptionally cheerful and would drive the other old people in the neighborhood to get groceries and go to doctor appt. One of her friends said that when anyone would ask Mildred " Can you do me a favor? Mildred would answer, "What are friends for?" before she even knew what the favor was.

Her friends decorated her car with pink carnations and an American flag. Mildred is just one of the people that I never got to know because of the senseless tragedy, but I admire her outlook on life so my bird is named in memory of her.

On a personal note; I am a nurse and work in Pope John High School nurse's office. My husband loves nature and animals and the Mets. We have 4 children and the youngest still believes in Santa Claus so if I bring him to a meeting after Christmas just remember that "Piazza cockatiel" came to our home from the North Pole with Santa Claus, and not from a pet store in Andover Township. HO HO HO!

Mary Owens

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Becky

Hi, my name is Becky. I’m 28 years old and hooked on birds. There, I admitted it: I am obsessed with birds. Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to have any pets. So naturally I am making up for time lost now. About a year before I turned 19, I started asking my parents for a cage. I knew they wouldn’t let me have a dog or a cat, and I really didn’t want a hamster or the like, so I decided I would ask for a birdcage. Every opportunity I had I’d ask them “Please, please can I have a bird cage? Just a small one?” Finally, about 3 weeks before I turned 19, they gave in. Taking a friend with me, I went to the local pet store and purchased a cage suitable for a parakeet. I spent the next three weeks convincing my parents to let me have a parakeet. So on September 19, 1992, I headed to the local pet store to purchase a parakeet. I knew absolutely nothing about birds and hadn’t a clue what changes were in store for me. I wanted a blue parakeet and my two friends and the owner of the pet store debated for about 30 minutes on which one would be the best for me. We finally settled on a young, pale blue and white, male parakeet. They clipped Sam’s wings and nails and we had our first introduction, which went very badly. He was very young, about 8 weeks old, and terrified of the world. They placed Sam on my shoulder and it was love at first sight (at least for me). Being the naturally curious, Sam reached up to check out my earring and the same time that I moved my head. I managed to knock him off balance and he was left dangling by his beak from my ear! They placed him in one of those cardboard boxes and proceeded to outfit me with all of the other things a first time owner needs. (Nothing with mirrors, of course) So home we went, squawking all of the way. I got him home and settled in his new home. That night, while baby-sitting at a friend’s house, I made him a cage cover. Needless to say, my entire life changed that day. I wanted to know more about this newfound friend and preceded to read every book I could find on budgies. So Sam and I were best friends. I could scratch his head (under the chin was his favorite spot), we’d take naps together on the couch and he would sit on my eyeglasses when he felt snuggly. He even played a version of “chase” with my brother. As is the case with many bird owners, you can’t have just one. So I purchased another pair of budgies and began breeding them about a year after Sam came to live with me. About 4 years ago, I acquired my first pair of Bourke’s parrots. The following summer, I flew to Florida to purchase another pair. I began breeding Bourke’s in the winter of 2000. On January 8, 2001, my first baby Bourke’ hatched and now lives with me as my special companion. Unfortunately, Sam died shortly after Moonsong was hatched. He was 8 and ˝ years old and is dearly missed. To date I have 21 birds: 4 budgies (Elmo, who is 9 years old, L’il Elmo, Sky and Motley, who are 7 years old), a cockatiel (Dusty, who is going on 7 years) and 16 Bourke’s (Rainbow, Dawn, Chiana, Claudia, Merlin, Moonsong, Nightsong, Little Josephine and 8 babies). Keeping up with all of them is a bit of a challenge, but as Sam taught me, worth every minute. Currently I am studying to be an avian veterinarian and hope to help birds and their human pets have long rewarding relationships. And I owe all of it to a little, blue parakeet named Sam.

Becky

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Dave Braun

Member Profile Name: Dave Braun

Age: Older than my daughter, younger than my father

Occupation: Research Engineer (means Geek)

I was first exposed to birds when I was in elementary school when my sister bought a blue grass parakeet named Lucky. Barb (my sister) taught him to say the usual "Pretty Bird" and "Hello". My father (Harry) taught Lucky to give a raspberry, my mother "Here Stubby" (our dog), and my grandmother "Harry you're a stinker and a piker and a no good bum!" By the way - that was my paternal grandmother talking about her own son! Well you can imagine the look on the dog's face when Lucky would put this all together. Or the minister's reaction when he came over to return my sister's purse one sunday afternoon ("You're a piker and a no good bum!"). Well this didn't impress me a bit. I was too busy catchin' poison ivy and setting the woods afire. In fact it wasn't until about 10 years ago when I realized just how fascinating parrots really are. My sister (same one) purchased a sun conure which she named "Kala" (supposedly Hawaiian for Sunrise). This is the first bird I was able to "pet" and started my fascination for these creatures. Their intelligence is amazing, their personalities endearing (even when they chomp). I don't have a large bird (yet) for a variety of reasons (time, money, space) but until the day arrives when I either give in to impulse or hit the jackpot, I read everything I can get my hands on and console myself with helping my daughter Becky (yep - I'm even growing my own vet in preparation for the day I rescue a parrot!) with her little Bourke's parrots. I may not have a large bird but I live with a whole bunch of small parrots, a dog, two ferrets, a dwarf bunny rabbit, and a fish tank. How I managed to become the keeper of a zoo I'll never know. But I do know a place where Chickadees, Nuthatches and the occasional Titmouse will eat from your hand. And I'm a pretty good programmer to boot.

Dave Braun

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Barbara Hart

Member Profile Name: BARBARA HART

 

Hi, everyone, I will try to be short on this profile but there is so much of me that it could take forever.  Who am I?? Well at birth I was Barbara Wilson, born in Hawaii, March 28, 1945 that makes me older than I wish to be.  At that time my parents were in the army.  We moved when I was two and I have lived in the same house in Rockaway, New Jersey since then.

 

I have always loved animals no matter what they were; they have always been a part of my life.  When I was growing up my neighbor showed me how to set up a box with a light in it and we fixed it so the temperature was just right and I hatched chickens and a few ducks.  It was a lot of fun although my mother did not appreciate chickens in the cellar and so eventually they went to my grandfather. I raised guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, dogs and a pet skunk.  He was a great pet and it kept the neighbors talking about my petting zoo and me.  By this time my parents were divorced, so I had to build everything by myself.  We had a very small back yard and makeshift pens but it was a great place to live.

 

When I married for the first time, my dog Boots had to be put down he was blind and not well; I was devastated.  I had him from the first grade.  He was thirteen years old and the neighborhood pet.  In those days the dogs could run free at times, and he would spend many days swimming in the river and hiking the railroad tracks with us (us being the neighborhood gang).

 

I switched to cats and for 17 years bred and showed Himalayan cats.  That was great fun, I had a chance to meet a lot of fine people and belong to a cat club, you know the rest.  When my Grandchildren started to arrive, and were living with me, I found that my grandson David was very allergic so I sold off all the breeder cats, saved the pets and never replaced them.

 

Ha! Ha! The grandkids were moving to Florida, and no longer living with me, I had just divorced, and remarried, and decided to get one parrot I bought Timmy my Amazon and acquired a six-week old dog named Molly. She is part Shepard, St. Bernard and Alaskan Timber Wolf and quite a challenge because she is a wolf. She obeys because of her training, and because she loves people and especially children but some things are instinct, like chasing deer, rabbits and other animals, so she can never be off the leash for her safety.  She is now 11 years old and showing it, but I could never have asked for a better pet or companion.

 

Somewhere in this mess I divorced again and remarried, I struck it rich this time, not in money, but in love, understanding and kindness and that’s what counts. My husband Bob puts up with me and my birds and dog. And most of all the Children. I had three biological daughters of whom one has passed on, one adopted daughter, two foster sons and two stepdaughters, plus 16 grand children.  Bob and I like to dance, go camping and he has a motorcycle that we love to ride.  Well for a short profile this has become very long. I almost forgot to tell you that I have been a hairdresser since 1967.  It does not seem possible that I have been doing hair for 34 years.  I had my own shop but sold it when my children grew up and left the nest.

 

I have acquired a few more birds too A Blue and Gold Macaw named Nook, A Green wing Macaw named Angel, a Conure named Max and an African Grey named Tyler given to me by my son Jimmy.

 

Timmy just went to spend some time with my daughter, she wanted a bird, and he likes being an only bird and is doing great.  I gave Max to my granddaughter Cassy who loved him and he her; it’s a mutual admiration society.

 

I joined the club through Connie Mazur, I met her in the nursing home where I work and she has volunteered me to do many things, What a great friend, thanks to her I now have very little idle time..Just kidding she is a great person and I would not know any of my club friends if it were not for her.

Well that’s all I have to say about me.

By By from Barbara Hart

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