Hi friends,
For those who do not know of Tinkerbell or me, first
take a look at these collection of photographs.
Each refresh of URL below will show more photos taken at random
http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9
A love story of me and my Tinkerbell, a free flying Congo African Grey parrot CAG , as we roamed about the mountains and forests and cities of Taiwan. She loves to go riding with me on the motorbike as she sit on a perch on the handle bar.
Full details of that and more are in that webpage, together with URLs to the relevant folders of hundreds of photos. Without those photos, what I wrote will never be believed
You can live with a flying parrot at home.
That is the legacy that Tinkerbell will like you to have
ShanLung
each refresh of URL below show more photos
http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9
Those are beautiful pictures, Shanlung - thank you for sharing.
I just wrote a post on another topic how I thought it seems scary to me to let a bird fly loose since I've heard that whenever they get startled of something they can just take off (in their distress) - isn't that true?
FairY,
When you are in Tinkerbell webpage, clicking on any of those photos will bring you the enlarged version.
Greys are not the best candidates to be taken outdoors. They are more inclined to 'spook' than others. Their hearing and their eyesight are so superior to ours that its not likely that we know the cause of their spooking.
Perhaps a couple of old letters I wrote on this can shed more light.
Look into "Playing music to ducks" in
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2005/08/
See 'Spooking zones'
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/9605.html
Taking a parrot outdoors to fly, on harness or not in harness, is a serious undertaking that you must be clear minded about. An immense amount of training and bonding and understanding can only be the foundation of that.
Shanlung
Thank you for explaining that Shanlung !
How long does it take you generally to have reached that stage with a bird?
Fairy,
There should not be any kind of timetable in your mind. There is no race. Fixing even a kind of time frame in your mind will be contraproductive. You might get nervous and frustrated if your self imposed dateline(s) neared. As greys are empaths, your feelings will be felt by them making them more nervous than they are. Your relationship with him will suffer.
Just be happy with him, treating him/her with the respect and dignity that you give to fellow sentients. You gain trust when you give trust.
My own path had been so accidental and full of quirks .
I made nightmarish mistakes. I cannot and should not use that path I taken as a path for even myself , and less of all, advice as a path you should faithfully take. Such as repeat of the nightmare when I was dragged screaming into the Overnighter's Club. I wish that not on my worse enemy, and last of all , you.
You and your bird are uniquely the two of you. CAG lives to 70-80 years, in effect, the rest of your lives. Timetable will be meaningless when you both have the rest of eternality ahead of you.
Perhaps you look at a nutshell of how I did that with Tinkerbell. And see where I had done wrong and learn from that.
'Harness for flighted parrots - To Nick and folks'
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/8284.html
Then you might have some basis to decide what your path should be.
Do let me know
Warmest regards
Shanlung<br><br>Post edited by: shanlung, at: 2007/02/02 12:40
I got the message: patience....
Thank you for your very interesting and educational story, Shanlung - I appreciate it very much.
(and, Tinkerbell is just gorgeous!)
Folks
I like to introduce you to another of my companion. He is a white rumped shama called Yingshiong, chinese
for heroic warrior. He is a gift from Tinkerbell.
Shamas are classified as 'aviary birds'. They are among the most timid of birds but
they are also the best song birds in the world.
Yingshiong was borned wild and was old when he came to me.
You can see from the daily blog I kept that he flew to me on recall within a month.
Breeders of 4 decades of experience with shamas told me my photos are the first
ever of a male shama landing on a human. You can see how I adapted what I wrote in Tinkerbll
Legacy to work with a shama instead. Why a shama? I just could not get another parrot into
my life even then.
In a few days, I have to say goodbye to him which will be apparent in another letter I will
attached here later. That will still be painful even if not of the magnitude when I first
had to say goodbye to Tinkerbell.
The only way to prevent that is to close our hearts entirely. Then there will be no pain, and
no beauty or magic either.
The leaving of Tink is more than a throbbing hurt. Much of my life still evolve
around her. When I went to work in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, I was hoping that would lead me
back to Taiwan. Then I realised that was not going to be the case and my wife understandably refused
to live with me in Saudi Arabia. I could not fly back to Taiwan to see Tink and ignore seeing my wife.
Thats why I am now in Brisbane down under. Where my wife is willing to come and live with me here. We can both
visit Taiwan together as Tink is her daughter too.
Only recently we decide my wife is to join me here even though I been here since Nov 06. If it was just the two
of us, she would have been here with me from the beginning. But we have Yingshiong to consider about. If
both of us were to leave Singapore together, that will be the end of chapter with Yingshiong. And he did
wiggle into our hearts much as we tried not to let that happen.
As Jayne mentioned she like to see Tinkerbell Interlude, here is a letter which is a good precursor to that episode.
And also partly explain why I am in Brisbane.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaa
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/65169.html
2006-11-16
Tinkerbell Interlude photoset and videos, and start of next chapter of life
Hello to all my friends around the world,
The last couple of days were spend in collating the photographs and videos
taken during the Tinkerbell Interlude, a period from 1st November to 8th November
when I was in Taiwan to be with Tinkerbell again.
I sort the photos to cover the day by day with Tinkerbell.
The Livejournal entries now have the appropriate photos in them that
better illustrate some of the events I wrote about. The videos are
also embedded in the Livejournal entries.
You find that in
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2006/11/
Tinkerbell flights were very weak at the beginning. Yu treated her
too well, taking delicacies and tea to her. As a result, she hardly
had to fly. She never made recall flights to him for a long time. That
led to him not trying to let her fly. That was a sad spiralling circle.
It took me just one morning to put right in my "Retraining the trainer".
Tinkerbell needed to be reminded of the joy of flying, and given the chance
to fly again. In the videos at Chiayi Park Confucious temple, you can hear
clearly the heavy landings she made on me, none of those feather soft landings
of before.
It was only a week later, that I trusted her with longer flights at BanTienYen.
Look at the video where she flew at me, circled off with the leash screaming from
the reel and her breaking off and returning to me.
The photosets can be seen here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlung/sets/
You can also see the videos here.
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=shanlung
You should see that from bottom up starting from Confucious temple flights.
Why I went to Taiwan for this short holiday can be told now.
When I left Saudi Arabia, I went to Brisbane Australia and accepted a 4 year contract
to work and live there. I came back to Singapore to do the paper work to get that work
visa for Australia. I knew my time frame will be short. So I had to see Tinkerbell
when I could.
It was lucky that I did so. Yesterday, I received news that the visas for me and my wife Joy
were granted. I hoped to start there early next year. That company then wanted me over asap.
We compromised in that I fly over to Brisbane on 26th November starting 27th November 2006.
My wife will remain in Singapore for a few months until the work and company find us mutually agreeable
for that long term. Then she will fly over and live with me in Australia.
This started when I was working and living in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia. Then I read this BBC article
in June about the Russian tundra melting. We knew that would happen. But I thought that to be a consequence
of global warming. That article then described the CO2 and methane trapped in the past to be coming
out now. So instead of the permafrost melting as a consequence, that might well be a timebomb giving
us even less time in a world and society that we know.
I rather enjoy life with my wife NOW, than to make lots of money in Riyadh for a future rather uncertain.
There were other reasons, but my preference is to enjoy the time that is left to me and my wife. Working and living
in Brisbane Australia will be much better than in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia even if the pay is less.
Perhaps, what I wrote ten years back might make interesting reading for you.
http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9/oldluddite.html
I will not argue if you think differently. In fact, I hoped you are right, for the sake of my son
and your children, that we will have a lot more time in the future. If true leaders are found and all
of us ready and able to accept the drastic changes in our current lifestyles. Rather difficult isnt it?
That bring up what will happen to Yingshiong should and when my wife joins me in Australia.
You note that I deliberately had to fly back to Singapore from Taiwan as my wife flew to UK
to see her nieces.
By the way, Yingshiong is in the PC room with me. He flew in to join me as I wrote this rather long letter.
If I ignored him too long, he would hover over my head. So I do a few recalls for the chance to treat him
with millis.
I love YS too, even if not at the level at the soul as that with Tinkerbell.
Should me and my wife cannot look after YS, I will not allow YS to be back into a round cage.
I had discussed with Taufik with the various possibilities and he agreed with me.
Yingshiong might go into the Jurong Bird Park in the waterfall aviary. This is the largest walk-in aviary
in the world. I have had discussions with the highest level and given an in-principle approval for Yingshiong.
There are 4 resident male shamas there and one or two females among lots of other birds. It will
be a life and death struggle for Yingshiong. But I think YS is a prime 4-5 years old. I believe he will fight
and be dominant or at least carve out a space for himself.
So if anyone go there in future, you might be hearing Yingshiong singing up in the canopy of trees.
My friend BK offered Yingshiong a permanent place in his huge aviary, and beautiful shama wife for him too.
But no one other than me , BK, and a few of his friends will ever hear Yingshiong again. He will be safe there,
pampered for the rest of his life. BK aviary seen here http://shanlung.livejournal.com/64879.html
Another option will be to release Yingshiong back into the appropriate forest. This might have the risk that he
is unable to integrate back into nature or capture by other people to be kept in a cage again.
It is yet too early to decide now.
Warmest regards
Shanlung
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaa
It was decided that my wife will be joining me in Brisbane in early June and I need to see to the future of Yingshiong.
Flash over to today and my latest entry in my livejournal.
I just landed into Singapore early this morning and back into apartment.
After hugging my wife who was about to leave for her office, Ivan greeted me with meows and
figure of eight curls around my ankle.
Yingshiong looked at me from his flight room and flew about with excitment. Sorrowfully, I incarcerate Ivan for YS to fly out. YS did not fly to me yet on cue as expected.
This trip is made specially to walk Yingshiong into his next chapter. I first spend a few days with him and on Monday, he will be taken to Jurong Bird Park. Then in the evening, I fly back to Brisbane.
I waffled and flip flop between JBP or my friend huge aviary.
Between the beauty of living in dangerous world against the cocoon of a safe aviary of my friend
For him to engage in life/death struggle with all the magic or a safe existence
He will be living in the largest aviary in the world, the JBP waterfall aviary
I will be leaving apartment soon to buy YS succulent crickets. I will spoil him rotten over the next few days.
shanlung
Hi shanlung!!! It is nice to meet you! We have a flighted TAG that we are teaching to fly to us on command. Trial and Error I will say!! As well as teaching to get used to an Aviator Harness. He is a baby (almost 4 months right now).
How fast could you go on your motorbike with Tink?
I have to come back when more time and read through your whole story/information.
Nice story and pictures, Shanlung. Thank you for sharing this. What is the spanwidth of the wings of Tinkerbell? I ask this because in the pictures it seems really large to me.
I read the questions asked on flickr and saw she really like you speeding on your bike B)
Monique,
When I ride slowly and like Tink to be up on bar, she rather stayed below. And when I ride fast and did not want her there, she would get right up. She took perverse joy in frustrating and frightening me. I should wring her neck!
Fairy,
I have no idea of her spanwidth. It seems very large in all her flighted photos, even those taken at home.
Shanlung
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