A Little About Susie Christian Keeper of the Flock

All my life I have had a wide range of pets, everything from tame Valley Quail, a donkey, snakes, raccoons, rabbits, field mice, frogs, a fox, fish, a ferret, turtles, Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, canaries, chickens—you name it and I probably had it as a companion! However my fondest love has been any kind of bird.

In 1972 my bird breeding fascination began with keeping pairs of breeding Cockatiels. One pair repeatedly hatched their babies out from a nest box right on the kitchen counter. In 1987 I fell head over heels in love with the sheer beauty and elegance of Eclectus parrots and my original Vosmaeri pair have been joined by a larger number of their own kind as
well as five other Eclectus subspecies.

The single biggest thrill of my whole life has been success in breeding Eclectus and Rosies. In 1995 I fell hopelessly head over heels for the animated Rose breasted Cockatoos and their spirited, sweet personalities. We now have breeding pairs of Rosies who enthusiastically produce babies here in the Spring-time.

Being prolific is not a prerequisite, however as all the birds of our small bird-colony are just loved for who they are.

Communication skills and art work have always been important to me. I was fortunate enough to attend Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles with an illustration major.

In 1972 I moved to Morro Bay, California and was a Pharmacy Technician for 26 years. All the time I was working a full schedule at that job I also did a number of commercial art jobs such as Christmas window painting, photography, advertising art as well as writing and painting in oils and watercolor. Since 1984 I have had a 1951 Indian Chief and a 1939 Indian Dispatch Tow 3 wheel motorcycle and am also a free lance writer and photographer for motorcycle magazines.

In 1997 I retired from a 9 to 5 job and thankfully and am able to devote my full time to the flock, drawing and painting birds in watercolor, photography and writing. The flock always seems to get the largest chunk of my time however. 

The thing I am most grateful for is spending time under the ?guiding wing? of Dale Thompson and about 90% of what I know about parrots I learned from him. Dale?s enthusiasm and willingness to share his brilliant ideas have been a great guiding light in my attitudes and knowledge about bird keeping. I am extremely fortunate to be ?Keeper of the Flock? of lovely ?Winged Ones? located in paradise on the Pacific Ocean!

Here I am sitting on a log in paradise. Behind me is a view of the back bay with Morro Rock and the Pacific Ocean. Our area is an official wild bird sanctuary.

Another of my favorite spots, sitting on my 1939 Indian Dispatch Tow motorcycle.