Gilbert 'riding the waves'

[ruffledfeathers]

I had Gil back at the beach with me last weekend. He had two full day trips with me, and it was his first time going with me into the ocean. He LOVES bath and shower time but seemed a little scared of the waves crashing until he was out there for a few minutes.


I didn't let him get wet because I wasn't sure if the salt water was ok for him. He got splashed a little but I held him up when waves came through and mostly stayed in up to my waist. He started to learn to flap his wings every time I would jump up and hold him up as a wave rolled in. It was cute. I think he could time it right to ride a little boogie board, LOL.


He even stepped up for strangers that came over admiring him. Seriously, he gets so confident and full of himself when he hangs out on the beach all day. It is funny. He is less scared of helicopters and parasailers now too. (I'd love to take him parasailing with me actually....)


A couple favorite pics from this weekend:

 

[JamesC]

Gilbert looks so great out there. He seems to have such a great spirit. Maybe someday I'll be able to do the same with Rosco.

Thanks for the photos!

 

[faeryphoebe1]

What a paradise! It's so beautiful. Reminds me of pics of the Caribbean, wow. Gilbert sure had fun.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

NJ is a funny state that way. Small, crowded in spots, but we have these gorgeous beaches and other very scenic spots too, and everything is "about an hour" away. Our beaches are my vacation every year. Close to home and pet friendly.
And yup, Gilbert makes his loud "aaaaaah" of approval as soon as we get to the beach!

 

[MrsKay]

Ahhh, what nice pictures. Gil looks like he was having some fun. Hope he remembered to apply the sunscreen hehe

 

[TessieB]

I see a beach bum in the making! Lucky bird!

 

[Ducatimom]

He looks so happy out there! Wish we lived near an ocean. Pasha (our Rottie has never seen a big body of water), Tuzzi is scared of it because we took her to a reservoir once and I didn't know it just dropped off. We went under and she ran back to her Dad like, "Mom just tried to kill me!". I think Ducati would love it though. I'd like to be able to take him hiking eventually. We have some great hiking up the mountains.

 

[Kalidasa]

Hee hee! That's really cute! What a bum!

 

[Terry57]

I so look for ward to your pictures with Gilbert, they are always stunning! And you and he both look like you were having a blast.
That first pic is awesome!!!

 

[Mango121913]

Looks like he's trying to get away from that sand snake following him! LOL!
I took Mango to the beach earlier this year, it's almost like they belong there. Cooing and watching the water, showing off for the other vacationers! . The salty air just gives them a comfort feeling.
Can't wait to go back I'll bet!

 

[kq_fan]

He is so cute! Looks like he is having a fun day in the sun! Beautiful beach! I wish our sand here was that tropical

 

[Kiwibird]

Looks like Gilbert loves the beach! Great pics, thanks for sharing

 

[RainbowRose]

Omg I wish I could do this! Looks fun! I don't know if the beach is okay for a Kakariki though..totally different climate in their native country. Your pics are beautiful though and I love the blue color on his head!! So pretty!!!

 

[RavensGryf]

Looks like you two had a lot of fun Patti!

New Jersey looks absolutely beautiful! Hey, the beaches are SO clean in Jersey! Lol, Here in SoCal the beach and water is dirty in comparison!! All of you thinking that the Southern California beaches must be nice, don't believe it LOL! I do love going to the beach, but have to admit it's pretty ghetto. CA budget cuts .

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Looks like you two had a lot of fun Patti!

New Jersey looks absolutely beautiful! Hey, the beaches are SO clean in Jersey! Lol, Here in SoCal the beach and water is dirty in comparison!! All of you thinking that the Southern California beaches must be nice, don't believe it LOL! I do love going to the beach, but have to admit it's pretty ghetto. CA budget cuts .

I think they have done a really good job in "post Sandy cleanup". The beaches are well maintained and safe. Well worth my $30 seasonal beach badge!!
I have always wanted to see the west coast. I have only been as far west as Arizona, and never seen the north west at all. I have also never been on a beach anywhere north of Connecticut, so I would like to do a New England lighthouse trip or something.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Ahhh, what nice pictures. Gil looks like he was having some fun. Hope he remembered to apply the sunscreen hehe

I was using ParrotHead SPF 30, so I was fine and Gilbert spent a lot of time under the umbrella (with an SPF 100 rating) or on my shoulder, under the shade of my hat!

I wondered if his little feet could burn actually......but he has been fine with just going in and out from under the umbrella.

 

[RavensGryf]

Looks like you two had a lot of fun Patti!

New Jersey looks absolutely beautiful! Hey, the beaches are SO clean in Jersey! Lol, Here in SoCal the beach and water is dirty in comparison!! All of you thinking that the Southern California beaches must be nice, don't believe it LOL! I do love going to the beach, but have to admit it's pretty ghetto. CA budget cuts .

I think they have done a really good job in "post Sandy cleanup". The beaches are well maintained and safe. Well worth my $30 seasonal beach badge!!
I have always wanted to see the west coast. I have only been as far west as Arizona, and never seen the north west at all. I have also never been on a beach anywhere north of Connecticut, so I would like to do a New England lighthouse trip or something.

A trip back east has been on the bucket list Now that I see your beach, that's a destination also!

It's very sad down here. I wouldn't call the beaches here well maintained OR safe The public restrooms smell like an outhouse, and are so filthy you really don't want to go there unless you have no other choice. How often are they cleaned? No toilet paper tells me it's not often! Ever? At least that's the beaches I'm familiar with here in Orange County and Los Angeles County. Not safe after dark either.

From an article:
{On Saturday, more than 550 volunteers — children, women and men — participated in the annual California Coastal Cleanup Day and plucked 3,280 pounds of trash and 696 pounds of recyclables from the city beaches and Aliso Creek.}

Even affluent cities like Laguna Beach have rotting large heaps of seaweed (along with trash) littering the beach after city budget cuts stopped the city's beach clean up. Don knows the cops down there from having worked in the city, so he knows there is a ton of crime too. LB is upscale and 'nice' in the daytime (besides the dirty beach) but lots of crime by night near the beach areas. Same with Huntington, and all the Orange County and Los Angeles beaches.

The water is even dirty. It often tests for high bacteria levels. To be fair, I bet it also has something to do with the way water current flows(?) Once you get down farther past San Diego and into Mexico, the water immediately gets clearer and bluer. :52:

 

[Kiwibird]

Julie-

When I was growing up, my family would occasionally go to CA to the beach. It was the ONLY experience of the ocean I ever had. I always remember it being pretty gross back 15/20 years ago. Garbage everywhere and it smelled funny lol. I was NOT a fan of the ocean/had no desire to ever visit it until we went to Jamaica a few years ago. I was so shocked to see even in, er, less affluent parts the beach was pristine and the water crystal clear and it didn't have that nasty smell. I guess the locals took great pride in their beaches and didn't litter them up and of course the tourist areas had staff to clean up the tourist trash. It's such a shame the California beaches are in such a mess Doesn't help the current flows probably do contribute to the problem, and the beaches in California are smack dab in the path of the water that flows through the great pacific garbage patch (isn't that such a disgusting thing to even think about?!)

 

[RavensGryf]

April, yeah it was bad even back then. Now you can only imagine it's worse with even less clean up along with the population increase. .

When I go to the beach, I like to just walk around in the shops down there, or as far as going by the water, we sometimes go to the dog beach to walk. I don't have a dog, but it's fun to go on a weekend and see all the different breeds people have. Just have to be careful where you step

I'd love to see the beautiful green environment in Oregon! I have a friend in Bend, and she says the climate there isn't typical what you'd think of Oregon. Is it Portland area that is more lush and green?

 

[Kiwibird]

Oregon really has a variety of climates! Theres high desert, low desert, rainforest... it's pretty amazing. Portland is really lush and green. Over near the coast it is actually classed as rainforest, and at some point, I would love to see just how much MORE lush and green an area can possibly get! I guess the eastern part of the state is more "desert" or "scrubland" (I think Bend would be east), but we've only driven through a small portion of that part of the state when we were moving up here.