User:Mick Blake

"Psittaculturist" '''==A life dedicated to Aviculture

Breeder Profile of Mick and Karin Blake

Owners and operators

of

Karmic Aviaries Est 1984

at

"Papagei Paradise" ==''' Both Mick and Karin have been keeping birds, mainly Lovebirds & parrots for nigh on twenty years. Mick started keeping birds the year that Man walk on the moon.

Since we met after I was discharged from the army. I kept a few birds when I was younger. My Dad bought me a pair of Zebra Finches on the 12 September 1969. That started it all, but Karin had not had a pet before meeting me. We started with budgies, java finches and zebra finches. A couple of years later we started to get into native finches - doves and parrots and then came the lovebird "CRAZE". Yes dozens and dozens of lovebirds for a many years. Both Karin and I served on the committee of the Lovebird Society of Queensland as Secretary and Assistant Secretary. As committee members for Avicultural Society of Queensland. Mick has also been the Australian Rep for Lori Journal International, as well as the Central Queensland rep for the Avicultural Society of Queensland Rockhampton Branch.

I also was a writer of many articles though the 1980’s and 90’s which have been printed and reprinted both here in Australia and over-sea also on the Internet this slowed down during my cancer scare. I have also given many lectured on both breeding/raising and showing, and have been a show judge for the last 18 years. We still host many bird chat at our place were friends come to chat about all things bird especially genetics of ringneck etc.

Then 1989 after Xmas holidays, Karin received a transfer to Rockhampton from her job in the Supreme Court in Brisbane. So I quit my job of seven years and we shifted up to Rockhampton. By this stage we were keeping Ringnecks, Lories, Native Parrots and some finches & doves/quail both natives and foreign. At first we bought a house right in the centre of Rockhampton. But both we[family] and our collection had grown too large for the backyard. So in 1992 we bought 2.5 acres about 20 minutes north of Rockhampton at Pandorn {830 Belmont Rd], But We moved again in 2001 to 35km southwest of Rockhampton as our collection had grown out of control. Again out in the bush. Our collection is still growing; we now have birds in 4 locations. we are slowly amalgamating all of our birds back to a Eclectus ave property. As our Breeding Loans mature. Despite the fact I have had a cancer scare& heart-attack and Karin had a major car crash a couple of year ago. As well as a cyclone or two we keep on keep on. We have been hand raising birds now on 23 years [as Karmic Aviaries] and have also been incubating parrot egg now about 19 years. We’ve also had a successful Incubation and hand rearing service for the last 9 years. Were with our Incubation and hand rearing service we transport both eggs and chicks up to 1200km and then return them back fully weaned.

Both Mick & Karin collective experience now consists keeping, breeding & or incubating/hand-rearing of the following species-: Macaws (Scarlets & Blue and Gold’s), Amazon (blue-fronted and yellow-crowned), Greys, Cockatoo (including Blacks) Eclectus parrots (3 sup-species), Lories (Reds, Chattering, Black-caps, Duskies, Yellow-bibs black and Cardinals etc) Lorikeets (5 coloured mutation of Rainbows, Scaley-breasted, Musk’s, Red-collared, Little's, Purple-crowned and Varieds), Asiatic Alexandrines moustaches, plumheads, slatyheads & Ringnecks (21Colours including Lacewings, Olives, grizzels/pearls, Cobalt’s), Conures (Nanday, Jandaya, Suns, Peach-fronted, Green-cheeked, marroon-bellied & Blue-throated ), Quakers (blues & normals), plus most species of Australian parrots, African lovebirds all colours and species (including Madagascan now extinct in aviculture in Australia) & Finches others include species as Fruit pigeons and native doves. Both Karin and my collective experience as Aviculturist now spans over 50 years. I myself have over 38 years experience as Aviculturist, The above list not a list of specie that we keep in our collection but a list of all Species that we have raised or kept over the last quarter of a century.

At the moment in the morning I feed each pair their fruit and veggies and nectar for the Lorries & lorikeet. The larger Lorries like Black-capped, chattering and yellow-bibbed Lories etc get a higher protein mix. Most of our birds are kept in individual suspended aviaries. The fruit and veggies are cut up fresh every day. The secret with the neo-tropic parrot like conure, amazons and to some extent both small and large macaws is lots of sprouted pulses. We use apples (only red), oranges, silver beet, carrots, zucchinis, dried figs, paw paw and sprouted seed & pulses and from time to time other tropical fruits in season, example mangoes, lychee's and juejue berries (a favorite food of red tailed black cockatoos in this area. We see them in the dozens, systematically striping the branches and eating the berries.). In the afternoon my big job is to feed a bit of apple or corn to each pair and collect the dishes for washing and feed nectar to any pair of Lorries with young.

== '''A Dyslexic Dropout Become a Inspired Artist Mick Blake''' == '''Sculptor, Potter & Blacksmith Artist Introduction ''' Hi To All, my name is Mick Blake; an emerging Mount Morgan potter / sculptor / artist / painter is holding his first exhibition, "Goldmines and Gargoyles”, this introduction is to introduce myself.

I’m a late comer to the art world, I as a Dyslexic Dropout had not done any art since high school 1976, when walking past the potty potters Galley I seen a  lady taking lesion and that was in late 2002. Since that day I have gone on to finish a course in “Certificate Introduction to Pottery, were I obtained a high level in both Basic and advanced Wheel-throwing and finishing Practices, A variety of decorating & glazing techniques, Making glazes from recipe, Packing and firing a kiln for both bisque and glaze firing which I completed on 28.06/2003. I have also attended workshop both here in Mt Morgan and Rockhampton on both wheel work and hand sculpting as well as glaze workshops for advanced potters.

Mick as also just finished in August a four day Glazing workshop on the Sunshine Coast called “BLAZE” which Mick is hope to in corporate in some of his newest pieces.

I have also run hand building courses at the late “Potty’s Potters” for kids and Adults, I have also just done workshop Demo’s at “John Cani Estate” for Daphne MacKinnon. I have also coroneted and fire a great winter soloist pit firing of Mt Morgan Pottery Group.. At this point in time I’m have ran Pottery workshop of the Mt Morgan Centre State School on Friday afternoon between 12pm and 1:30pm for the non-sporting kids. Plus a Glaze workshop for years 5,6,7 at Mt Morgan Centre State School, Has Only held two successful Solo exhibition with each running for seven day first in Mt Morgan School of Art Building from 22nd - 28th October 2006 & Rockhampton Walter Reid Cultural Centre 19th - 25th November 2006 with over 500 people viewing these Exhibitions. Plus now has help a group of workshop Beginning in Clay & Under Glazes for Vacation care of the Local Mt Morgan Hub Youth Center in January 2007

My sculptures have won Champion novice sculptor, Champion sculptor of show and Champion Potter of show, At that time I had been potting for less then one year.

So as I use clay, rock, Hebel block, Bronze, fibreglass, leather, sandstone, steel and fire in my pottery and sculptures, real any thing in the box and every thing out side the box. I love throwing stuff on the wheel, but my loves are my sculptures which include Witches, Gargoyles and garden features. Plus Abstract paintings

But I'm keen to learn more and more about this great Art form

I have two kilns, one small 2/12 cubic foot eclectic a 12 cubic foot Gas kiln. I'm just in the process of buy the gear to build my new Brick lined gas fired kiln. It will be an arched kiln and 36 cubic foot with 4 gas burners. Plus a 60 cubic foot Wood kiln.

I hope that this show that anyone can do it you just have to have the passion and will.

Mick

"Psittaculture" comes from The Psittacinae (Latin psittacinus, from psittacus parrot, from Greek psittakosis) Psittaculture is a word that has been used in the Aviculture community since the early 1970's, to denote people whom specializes in keeping and breeding and conserving psittacines species, also on preserving psittacines habitat, and public awareness campaigns to save our beloved Parrots. It is one branch of the science of Aviculture

"Psittaculturist"{Parrot Breeder}is person whom specializes in keeping and breeding and conserving psittacines species, also on preserving psittacines habitat, and public awareness campaigns to save our beloved Parrots

As with Aviculture in the sub-branch of Psittaculture you will find four levels of Psittaculture 1. The specialist pet owner whom keep only Parrots as pet some will have dozens of pet parrots

2. The specialist backyard hobbies whom keeps a modest collection of only Parrots and breeds them on a very small scale.

3. The specialist Hobby Farm Breeder who's collection as grown so large that they need to shift out to Rural farms but still as considered a hobbyist, but still only keep Parrot,

4. The specialist Professional Parrot Farmer whom derives his/her main income from the breeding & selling only parrots