Welcome
to Robirda's Personal Pages


Robirda has been working and living with animals and birds - and writing stories about them - all of her life.

Her feeling of kinship with the natural world extends to plants and wild birds - Robirda is an avid gardener and birder, wherever she lives. (currently, in Kelowna, in British Columbia's beautiful Okanagan Valley.)

In this area of her site, you will find links to her more personal interests, such as her (none too serious) life's philosophy, her current garden plot in one of Kelowna's Community Gardens, some imspiring local legends, some poetry and songs, and of course plenty of pictures to go with the ones on the right. (Hover the mouse over each picture to read about it, or click to see a larger version of each pic)

If you are going to be in Kelowna and would like to visit, you can phone us at (250) 868-2375 to arrange a time (no unscheduled visits, please). Yes, we do sometimes have a few canaries for sale. Sorry, but we don't ship.

Click on a pic to see a larger version.
This is Concho, a rare hen Lilac-crowned Amazon.   Concho adored sharing supper, especially her favourite, spaghetti!   Cato the Double-Yellow Headed Amazon, a long-term abuse case; eight years with only sunflower seed and water, in a cage too small to open his wings...
Meet my 18-year feline owner, known as Squid-Banana, or sometimes (due to the way she 'talked'), Squeaks. Yes, she commonly had that goofy expression...   This was my first pair of Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleu finches, Mr and Mrs Whistlebug, in their planted aviary.   My last dog, Skye - an unusual and intelligent French sheep dog/Larador/Samoyed cross. See the marking of a bird on his chest?
This is a pair of Golden-Mantled Rosellas, Bella and Bobbsey... a beautiful and often comical species of bird, these two were like mirror images of each other, whatever one did, so did the other...   This little sweetie, a sun conure who named herself Paco, was going to be put down as a chick because of her twisted leg, which you can see here - usually, it was barely noticeable. A friend of mine and I saved her, and she grew up to live a normal and happy life.   Paco and her brother on a new playpen, with Robirda
Robirda's favourite 'snoopervisors', The Strawboss and her cohort, Spleunkin' (tame hand-raised Bengalese Finches)   The greenhouse wall in the bedroom (at Hornby Island)...a great place to wake up!   This little garden, a 7 by 7 foot corner of a community garden built on an abandoned lot in East Vancouver, won a prize for the variety of its plantings and the compactness and usefulness of its design.
The efficient and easy-to-use watering system made by a friend in the garden at Hornby Island - it allowed us to water that 12 foot tall corn without having to drag a hose through it...   For several years this was my only garden - a north-facing balconey in East Vancouver. That's fog outside the window - it's Vancouver, eh?   An 'artistic' setting for a picture of my small bonsai trees (a porch in Richmond, BC) From left to right are a Hinoki cypress, a Mungo pine, a Japanese azalea, and a Shimpaku juniper. Oh, and a young jade tree inside the window.



This site is dedicated to all of those who try to help others on our journey to a better
tomorrow, and especially to Jack Merkens, whose last words to me were "Promise
me you'll keep writing about those canaries! Never stop, ok? Promise!"
Okay, Jack. I promise.

Last update Jan 3, 2008.

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