Tag Archives: bird

Great Photo of our Bourke on her eggs

My husband took this great photo of our sweet Bourke nesting on her eggs – and I wanted to share it with you. When he took the photo, he obviously didn’t want to use the camera’s flash, so the lighting … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Update on our Black-Headed Grosbeak

Those of you who follow this blog already know that we have a wonderful black-headed Grosbeak wintering in our garden – he is supposed to be in Southern Mexico or Latin America, but because of a wing injury, he has … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brilliant Blue Jay masters a super-tough nut-to-crack, the Peanut Wreath!

Our wonderful neighbors gave us a heavy wire peanut wreath. It essentially is a super-tightly wound slinky, that is immobile – these wires are thick and can’t be adjusted even with human hands. The idea is to wedge the peanuts … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thanks to Wonderful Neighbors Karen & Jim, Squirrels and Blue Jays have a GREAT Holiday!

We were so surprised when we came home and found a LARGE holiday gift bag, filled with what is best described as a large wire ring wreath, and a bag of peanuts, along with a lovely card. Our animal-loving-kindred-spirits-neighbors, Karen … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Best Buds – Our Bourke Parrots (aka Bourke Parakeets); Our Female bird gets the munchies!

These two birds have come a long way since they first met. Now they can share the same cage, and when they do, they are very sympatico. Here are some little glimpses into their world: Here is some footage of … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rosie and Emma Plant a Seed™ Now Available on Amazon!

Rosie and Emma Plant a Seed™ is M. Nicole van Dam’s joyous and beautifully illustrated children’s book about a young girl Emma and her Leonberger dog Rosie, who find a mysterious seed and plant it. As the mysterious seed grows, … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Books, Gardening & Animals & Inspirations, New Nicole Artworks, New Nicole Product Updates, Nicole's News Hot Sheet, The Artist's Thoughts, Writer's Corner | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Bird Feeder Gets Approval from Black-Headed Grosbeak!

Here is a photo of the new bird feeder set-up and of the black-headed grosbeak checking out the new feeder today! Since our bird feeder was so extraordinarily busy, we decided to hang a second one, and it just received … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Bourke Parrots (Parakeets) and Organic Vegetable Gardens

Well, it’s very common for the Bourkes, after they’ve been out for awhile, to fly back to their cages, and frequently they play games – each one flies into the other’s cage, for example. Well, today our happy little Bourkes … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Another Photo of our Black-Headed Grosbeak and More Videos of Squirrels and Nature from the Garden

Our injured Black-Headed Grosbeak spends a lot of time looking West – I wonder if that is the last direction he saw his fellow Grosbeak’s migrate towards before he fell behind? Here is a photo of the little guy, looking … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rare Bird Sighting – A Black-Headed Grosbeak is Wintering in Our Garden!

We have been seeing what for us was a most unusual looking bird – and it turns out there is a reason for that. This little fellow is a black-headed grosbeak, and he is supposed to spend the winters in … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Princess Bourke lays FOUR eggs, and another GLORIOUS day in the Garden!

First, the big and yet not big news.  Our little Bourke parrot has laid four eggs, and she is quite proud to show them off. Of course these eggs are all unfertilized, so her quest to hatch them is sadly … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bath for two?

Here are our sweet Bourke parakeets (aka Bourke’s Parrots) – our princess is in her bath and her prince decides to do whatever she does, but there’s no room for two.  She makes room for him and what happens?  Watch … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Up Close with a Fearless Bourke!

Our female Bourke is so fearless – and she loves technology!  Here she is exploring the video camera, deciding if it gets to stay in her dominion or not.  -And look at her beautiful coloring – like a sunset in … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Bourke Parakeet Joins Family!

This is an amazing process, to add a new member – a new BIRD member – to our cozy family.  We wisely took a video of the first meeting of our original Bourke Parakeet and our new little fella.  It’s fascinating … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazing Window Surfing Birds Visiting my house daily!

Amazing bird video of birds in my garden surfing on my window! Anyone know what kind of birds these are?  Even my Bourke parakeet (parrot) is fascinated and mystified by these oddly behaving birds!  They literally surf down the window!  … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mystery Birds even Mystify our Bourke – What are these Surfing Birds?

Amazing bird video of birds in my garden surfing on my window! Even our Bourke watches these birds with fascination!  Anyone know what kind of birds these are? http://ping.fm/Vhsy9

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Casper the Cockatoo

“Casper the Cockatoo” is a fun black and white line drawing by M. Nicole van Dam, inspired by wonderful Casper at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. Available in Limited Edition prints, greeting cards and more, available at Create.bz.

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations, Nature and Animals, Portfolio | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment