Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Joni Mitchell's writing and Progress with Dimitri

Just went to my dashboard page and suddenly really noticed what photo I'd chosen for this blog. It's of me driving. Driving a motorhome a couple of years ago, cross country from the west coast to the east. In this case the country was the USA, not Australia.
I love Joni Mitchell. I've always loved Joni Mitchell. Her lyrics speak to me. Today I was listening (yet again, for the 1029th time, to Hejira, my favourite album). Partly I think I relate to her lyrics because she's always on the road,' travelin' travelin' travelin'. My formative years, beyond the childhood years, were when I began to discover who I really was, not what I thought I was. That interior journey came about as a result of an exterior journey. I left family, friends and familiar shores and shifted about strange Antipodean shores. I didn't settle in any locale for more than two years. I learned to rely on myself. I got into sticky situations and got myself out again. I learned I could be brave, that I was strong and resilient. I learned that I liked my own company. If I hadn't left one continent and moved to another I think I would be a very different person today.
When no one knows you or your history or your antecedents, you scent the trail which may lead you (if you're really lucky and assiduous) to who you really are. You become more iron and less froth. Joni, it seems, is always on the road. She became 'porous with travel fever' yet the 'slightest touch of a stranger could set a tingling in my bones'. These songs always resonate with me. It's not that I spent years and years and years traveling solo but enough to know the freedom - and the cost. Maybe I'm only nostalgic for the road, set as I am now with husband, home and animals. I do not wish it any other way but for every choice one makes, other choices sink into oblivion.
Joni's many layered lyrics blow you away with a minimum of words, pointed and true. When I listen to her lyrics I despair that I can ever convey such imagery with so little. For instance, in her 'Song for Sharon', is 'A woman I knew just drowned herself. The well was deep and muddy. She was just shaking off futility or punishing somebody." Unfortunately, I've met people who have suicided. One was shaking off futility and the other was punishing someone.
But enough of that. Good day today. Making steady progress with Dimitri. Was, of course, pushing him too hard, so have backed right off. Now he's following me into the office and I'm c/t'ing for him to come closer. Eventually he'll take millet from my fingers while he's on the floor and I tower over him in an office chair. His whole demeanor is different; less watchful, more trusting. I am so happy!
We've had to cut his tree perch in half. Day before yesterday I was in here and heard a loud thump. He came down to this end with blood on his beak. Found two more drops on the floor. He'd lost his balance and fallen. Now instead of his perch being head height (I'm 5'4") it is waist height. He could still lose his balance and fall but if he does it shouldn't be as bad. Have also piled towels behind the perch, between the perch and the wall. He must have somehow fallen there to have hit hard enough to bite his tongue. I thought I had the crash sites covered but obviously not. Have also put him on pellets today (will give him seed in a few minutes) and both he and Tachimedes are on coccivet as I don't like the colour of their poos. Too green and loose. Tach is having a hard time as he's been gorging on Dimitri's seed for 2 months and ignoring his pellets. It's back to the regimen today and he's not happy. But he'll come around.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Dice, Dimitri and The Deluge

I'm using the die, as in the Diceman by Luke Rhinehart, again. It seems I blither the day away and don't accomplish a whole lot. Rolling the dice after making a list of things to do is a sure way to get things done. So I made a list of six things (as I've only one die, the other die, all colours and sizes, have disappeared over time). Here it is. 1. Wash windows (always include at least one thing you definitely don't want to do). 2. Listen to The Visitor, a CD made by the Robert Monroe guys, a guided meditation to meet 'The Visitor' which I assume will be someone or something of importance to my psyche. I haven't been able to listen to it in its entirety yet so haven't met him/her/it. The friend who introduced me to it listened many many times before finally meeting his visitor. So it may be awhile. 3. Write (the book). 4. Yoga. Have already done some, trying out a new yoga CD. It was okay but a little too easy. Thought it wouldn't hurt to do some more. 5. Plants. We had 51mm or rain yesterday. Took all the plants out for a drink and a wash. Because it rained so hard, they have debris splattered up the sides. Have brought some back in already but there are more plus one palm I want to repot. and 6. Blog, hence this. It rolled a 6.
I was exhausted by 8:30 last night. Went to bed at 9:30 then couldn't sleep thinking about Dimitri. We had a good ending as I wrote yesterday for he was curious, and perhaps made nervous about the storm (10,000 lightning strikes and power outages), and hung around to the entrance to this room off the verandah. I thought this morning that I would try and get him to target a prop, in this case a plastic weave ball with a bell in it. Dismal failure. I held it and he did touch it but he was so focused on getting out he kept offering the behaviour of getting on the forward perch. When I held the ball up to him again he ignored it and bit my finger - twice. Not hard but hard enough to let me know he wasn't happy. The first rule of birdkeeping and training is don't get bitten so I didn't hold it out again. Instead I got a coop cup which hangs on the inside of the cage and put the ball in it. I clicked for him looking at it, for getting closer (in his mad rush to get onto that forward perch) but in truth it didn't click with him at all. He got cranky and went to the back of the cage. Hmmm. I left him in and went outside and did something else (and felt tears of frustration pricking my eyes - why is this so hard for me?). Overdoing it, no doubt. Should have quit while I was ahead. He got frustrated and annoyed and so did I.
When I returned we'd both calmed down. I clicked for getting near the cup, made a big fuss and then let him out. He's still running for the opposite end of the perch when I go out, unless I'm holding millet but I am backing right off and not letting it annoy me. If this is where we are, this is where we are.
He got on the floor a couple of times, even following me to the opposite end of the verandah. I knelt and offered corn and millet treats for coming nearer. He did get pretty close so that's something.
Must say everything looks so scrubbed and fresh after the rain. It has been so dry - grass the colour of a peroxide blonde. The horses were so rejuvenated they galloped back and forth in the peach paddock which is in front of the windows behind the monitor. Even Freya, nearly 30, was in the throng, sometimes leading the way. After the sixth go she veered off to refresh herself at the water trough but the others kept going. Radar, the whippet x, joined in. Even from here I could see his laughter. That dog loves to run, even more than Jamaica, the purebred whippet. He runs for sheer joy. The galahs, dusty with months of dry weather, hung upside down from the wires and shrieked. Even the aviary galahs found toeholds on the mesh and screamed and fluttered and shook their feathers. Wish Dimitri could have had a bath too but that will have to wait. One day....

Monday, October 26, 2009

Dimitry, always and forever

Well, Dimitri and I aren't getting on very well. No progress, even regression and I'm having to rethink my entire plan (there was a plan?). Like that wise sage, Dr. Phil asks supplicants at the altar of his self-help show - 'Is that workin' for ya?' Nope, it ain't.
So maybe I can think this out loud. A bit of free flowing stream of consciousness description of what's going on. I've read and read files on taming wild birds, gaining their confidence, I've slow-blinked and breathed deep. I've endlessly beat a hasty retreat at any sign of nervousness. I've rewarded any sign of confidence by beating a hasty retreat. There's a track through the french door floor boards as deep as Death Valley. Yet and yet and yet, he's still terrified. Soon as I come through the door, slowly slowly, not looking at him, making my way by a circuitous route to an area of the verandah nowhere near him, he's off like a rabbit to the end of the perch. From the perch onto another perch which spans, what is laughingly referred to as, the training table. If I am still too close (by this time I'm using binoculars to see him), he will threaten to jump from the edge onto the blankets I've put on the floor for just this eventuality. As for clicker training. He targets like a champion and then flees before he gets the treat. No way was he going to venture onto the training table to follow the target stick. I longed for arms like Rubberman so that I could indicate the training table perch while still remaining in the bad girl corner sans dunce cap. Not that it mattered. As far as Dimitri is concerned taking any step beyond gnawing the end of the perch is only for stupid birds and he isn't one of them.
Okay, so the targeting isn't really getting us anywhere as I can't get him onto the training table to begin playing with props. Using props is a way to get the bird so enthusiastic about working with you for treats that he forgets to be scared. Yeah, right. (I'm sorry, I'm frustrated and so am writing with alot of ... frustration. I don't mean it). So he can target. He knows targeting. He's got targeting. I'll just get him used to the idea that anytime I'm in the vicinity he gets something yummy. If he doesn't want it from my hand, fine, I'll throw it in his direction. He adores millet. Who would've thought a big lumberjack of a bird like Dimitri would like millet. Anyway, when he is on the floor and heads in my direction, throw a millet bunch, or a bunch of millet. Give corn, sunflower seeds, millet, whatever he wants and is in the mood for.
But that didn't work, did it. He seemed even more afraid of me, snatching the treat and beating a hasty retreat to Timbuktu.
Patience is what is required. I know that. Lots of patience, oceans of patience, an infinity of patience. Still I would like to see some progress. I'm on holiday. I can spend time with him (and I do, taking a book and reading quietly in a chair well away from him, doing yoga first thing in the morning, making short treat trips as in the aforementioned description). I erroneously thought we'd get a wee bit closer to, if not friendship, at least acquaintances of a civil sort. Instead it's the KGB meets MOSSAD and the KGB forgot their ammo.
So what then is the new plan. R suggests I don't let him out of the cage in the morning until we've done some serious 'getting to know you, getting to know all about you'. That is one area we have made progress. He will get onto the most forward perch. Even to getting him on the forward perch was a milestone, now he gets on in less time and gets the BIG reward - freedom. R thinks yeah, but he needs to get used to my nearness and start getting hand trained. I naively thought when he was getting onto the forward perch with me on the outside that he wouldn't be able to do that without accepting my presence to some degree, but I guess his desire for freedom overrules, in this instance, his instinctive fear.
How to approach this then? His cage now sits on a table with legs and it's a little lower than the previous table. Instead of standing, perhaps I can use a chair so that a) I'm a bit more comfortable and b) I'm not looming over him like Kilimanjaro with hair. Maybe I need to be a little tougher and not be in such a big hurry not to let him out of his cage in the morning. Another 30 or 40 minutes in the cage won't hurt him. If he's in the cage, he can't injure himself. I don't have to force him to accept my presence. I can still do the advance and retreat thing. We can just be a bit more consistent. In that half hour we can have 2 or 3 or 4 short sessions. He'll still be free at the end of it.
I've just done a stint of advance and retreat from halfway up the verandah, coming through the end door instead of the middle french doors. Dimitri was actually coming to the end of the perch and even though he didn't stay there, I left the room as a reward for him staying calm.
I've vented now and feel much better. Found my patience again. Of course I have to go at his pace and there's nothing worse than being sad and upset and frustrated when I'm around him, which is why this blog is so good. I can get it all out of my system and go to him the calm, serene, loving person I really am...most of the time. NEWS FLASH: He's hanging around this end of the verandah where he can see me (at the computer). I don't have any treats. I'm sitting and not retreating but he's still coming for a look-see. Good, huh?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

writing, dimitri

My days off started well with 1200 words written. Thought I was on a roll yet here it is Sunday and I've written nothing else. Emails but they don't count. Should just leave the darn thing open on the computer and add a word or two each time I walk by. Might have an entire sentence by the end of the day. Oh well. I could use the excuse of waiting for some details requested of someone in the know who hasn't replied yet. That doesn't really wash however for I can gloss over those details and return to them later. It's not that I'm even stuck. If not being stuck means I'm no worse off than before - in that I don't know what's going to happen next until I've written it. Not sure that's a good way to write but if I knew where the story was going from start to finish I wouldn't have any interest in writing it. Perhaps that's why so many American films are such a yawn. I already know what's going to happen. The journey to The End may be quite good but there are few surprises.
I'm gazing out at 5 fat horses on parched pasture. When will the rains come? Luckily we bought lots of hay so they are in good nick. The eldest gelding just had a piddle. He stretches out then stands on tiptoe with one hind foot. Such a delicate darling!
Dimitri is starting to come around. Oh, we still have our mini-panics when he has to get away but I notice generally he is accepting my presence more easily, more often and at closer proximity. It helps that at any sign of nervousness I'm outtathere. I think he's starting to figure out that he doesn't need to worry that I'll approach into his comfort zone unless he's...comfortable.
I've put what will be our training table between the tallest tree perch and his cage. Cut a nice bark-covered (very chewable) branch from the fallen wattle tree branch in the horse yards. He's already walked across it and jumped onto the table, which I thought might be problematic as it's so slick. When I tried to approach it put him off so I backed away and just left him to it. It is something new after all.
I've written to bird-click re Dimitri and have had two great replies. One of them directed me to a file on bird-click which I hadn't seen (actually I had trouble even finding it which in hindsight seems rather daft - it was right there). Anyway, this woman trained a feather-picked wild goffins 'too. He could have been regarded as a hopeless case but this woman, with patience, experience and c/t, brought him around to the point where he is fully feathered and happily re-homed. I suspect he may be a bit more courageous than Dimitri. Not that it really matters, the principles are the same. I've bookmarked the page and will use it as a guide.
Dimitri accidentally chomped into the pellets I put down before giving him seed at 8am. He didn't go back for a second bite but he did taste one so that's a start. He also had a bit of apple (as did Tachimedes) which is stupendous. So want him to have a more varied diet. Once the rains come and things start growing again he can have choice bits of stuff from outside. Not that my efforts have been very successful. I've offered him the same things the galahs eat and he takes no notice. But even those small morsels have dried up and died. It was interesting to note that with the increase of training, the goffins ate a bigger variety of foods.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

writing, finally and yes, dimitri

At last I've done a little writing on the book. A very little but at least I've done something. It's been weeks since I've even looked at it. There was a pleasant surprise for as I was searching for a fact I'd written previously, to see where I'd left a certain person, of course I had to reread what I'd written - and damn, there was a fine descriptive sentence. Original too. Sometimes I surprise myself. Then, of course, I read on and there was a lot of dreg.
Part of the problem was I'd written a certain scene, a key player being found unconscious at a local country dance, and had no idea (and still don't) who or what or why they were found thus. I'm staying positive and trusting that my unconscious will supply the what who and why but at this point I can only write the description. Here they are, it looks like this, smells like this, these people were present and these were not. The book is not a whodunnit but a mystery was posed at the very beginning and this episode deepens it....so much so that I don't even know why - yet.
For the first book I used to go for walks and take a notebook and pencil with me, tucked into my back pocket. This was sans dogs. Walking is excellent for plot points, loose ends and signposts. Now, with the two whippets straining at the leash I can think of nothing other than being with them. I'd go for walks on my own but it seems somewhat selfish not to take them. So plot points and such must come while I'm actually at the computer. No, that's not entirely true. I will be doing other things; showering, vacuuming, anything that engages the body but not the mind and will think of something to further the story or remember something I must clarify or correct. It's a funny thing, the mind. It is not what we perceive it to be. It is much much more. Obviously it has a mind of its own -- if that's not too far fetched. While we think we are in control of what we're thinking and aware of who and what we are, it leads this separate hidden mysterious existence that makes its presence known by eureka moments - or clarified plot points.
Now, for Dimitri. More successful targeting with c/t. Then a minor, if not breakthrough, at least indicator of things to come. I took my chair and placed it in front of the tree perch so that the tree perch ladder rested on the floor near my left side. Dimitri quite freely made use of the ladder and also helped himself to the food near the base of the ladder while I was sitting there. How wonderful was that. I'd glance down at him eating and he'd look up at me. We were thisclose. Then I tried targeting while he was on the ground. He didn't beak the chop stick but he did look at it, knowing full well what was being asked, so I clicked and threw a seed down. It was very good, very much a step in the right direction. I am so chuffed.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Dimitri, some more good news

Dimitri and I are reading each other a little better I think. Of course, he's read me perfectly from the start. I'm the one who has to interpret his body language. We have made some progress. We are c/t'ing sometimes. He's even targeting a chopstick. It was interesting to watch him learn from Tachimedes. Tach is very motivated to earn his quarter sunflower seed. Tach was on a lower branch. He caught on quickly and was very keen. Then I tried Dimitri. Admittedly he had done it before but in hindsight I don't think he made the connection like he did yesterday (and today). He has stepped to the right, to the left, stretched up and stretched down to earn his treat. Most of the c/ting was just so he'd target without having to exert himself at all. When he seemed to understand I asked for a little more. He shows clearly when he's had enough by walking to the end of the branch and starting to climb. Today we've done some more and I'm quitting before he walks away. I want him to be keen.
I also sat with him an hour or so and read. Just read. I'd glance at him occasionally and although I sat near him that was all I did. He actually moved down to the fork and sat. Dare I think it was because he wanted to be a little closer? I think I do dare. Yes, he moves away if I move too near him with what he regards as intent (although I am very clear now about not intending anything and what he at first perceives as intent he quickly realises is only me doing chores) but he is also quick to resume his place when he understands I am ignoring him.
I read Sally Blanchard's article on patience and how she tamed one of her birds - a cockatoo I think. She stressed the importance of lowered head and lack of eye contact. She eventually won the bird over so that he stepped up onto her hand. She did this by putting a perch in front of her cage with treats in it. The bird learned there were treats and eventually used her hand as a bridge to get from the perch back into the cage.
I've been trying to think of a way to get Dimitri onto my hand. There is a screw in cup for the t-stand which I can use but I think the heights differ from the t-stand to the cage. Perhaps I could target (much later) for Dimitri to step across my hand on the tree stand to get to the treat. If he gained confidence that way (and human moveable skin must feel very different, in addition to the other challenges of just trusting the hand) that might work. But I don't want to jump the gun and ask too much too quickly. All of this will have to wait until he routinely stays in position when I enter the room. When he is fully relaxed about my presence we can move onto something else.
In the past I've been disheartened by our lack of progress. No doubt in the future we will have days or moments when we seem to revert back to former fears and anxieties. But I must remember that we are making progress, that when I look back to how he was a month ago, we have come a long way. I think how he behaved in the surgery started me off on the wrong foot. I believe Dimitri was so overcome with all that had happened to him, all that he was currently experiencing (lots of people, strange noisy environment, handling) he just shut down and behaved like a bird that had had lots of interaction with people. Once he came home and lived with us for awhile all the normal behaviour of a fresh caught wild bird re-emerged. Of course, there is part of me that believes he had some good human contact before he came to the surgery. Although he threw himself off perches and was very afraid, he wasn't as afraid as I've seen some wild caught galahs behave. Then too, maybe it's just him. I dealt with another corella (since released) who was wild and very very fearful.
One other thing before I close. Dimitri has started to vocalise a little more. He has been quietly hooting for some time now in the mornings. Today he actually honked a little. Algernon was nearby and perhaps that triggered it although he's never shown much interest in Algernon before. Algernon is often here making noise. Anyway, I think his willingness to draw attention to himself by honking is a good sign.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Dimitri again

Dimitri and I have ultimately had a good day today. It started rather miserably. We seem to take two steps forward and four steps back. It is sad and frustrating but I have to remember to see things from his point of view. He couldn't care less what I'm thinking or feeling. He is behaving exactly as he should behave; showing anxiety and fear and a readiness to exit his position at the first sign of (perceived) danger. Spent much of this afternoon reading articles and letters on mytoos.com which strengthened my resolve to be patient and give him the time and understanding he needs. Frustration and disappointment are useless emotions. He certainly is sensitive enough to pick up on them and as they are negative it would confirm his suspicions about this strange biped which looms so frequently in his territory.
This morning he wouldn't have a bar of me. My first step onto the verandah was enough to send him scrambling from his tree perch. Thankfully I can say he hasn't hit the deck in days which is some consolation. I'd either exit or quickly go to the other end of the verandah and show an interest in something else, like c/t Tachimedes (who is a whiz kid with the targeting) .
Perhaps food is part of the issue, beyond his natural fear of humans. It is not easy to try him on different foods as he recognizes very little as food. I tried him on almonds. Split one into 4 pieces. He had 1/4 and nothing else. Tried oats and barley; they were uninspiring. Then I tried kernels from corn on the cob. He has a piece every day. When I first brought him home he wouldn't eat it. Now he's discovered he likes it. I withheld it and fed him a kernel at a time. Well, he was leaning forward ready for the next one before I had it torn from the cob. Didn't try anything else but c/t'ing that over and over again.
This afternoon I went foraging with a will and a pair of secateurs. Cut things I know the galahs love and brought them into his forage box. Ho hum. ' He's just not that into' weeds. He is getting the idea of the forage box as I've put in thistles (the non-pointy kind) and he's eaten the seed heads. Of course there are seed heads which burst while on the verandah so we have a kind of seed 'snow' which floats around. While we grazed the galahs this afternoon I watched with particular interest what they were eating. I'd already tried him on some of their delicacies which he has ignored. Noticed Marvin was eating the seeds from shepherds purse so I've brought some of that in and tied it to his tree perch. He'd already put himself to bed (good bird!) so he won't see it until tomorrow.
Also read some of the recipes on mytoos.com and will purchase the ingredients tomorrow to make some hopefully delectable meals for him. I do want to convert him from seed to pellets but don't think now is the right time. He is still too stressed as evidenced by his reaction to any invasion of his territory. Conversion from seed to pellets is stressful as seed is withheld until the afternoon so he doesn't need that extra stress at this point. Should say that I've never found mixing pellets into the seed mixture and reducing the seed has ever been successful for me. The birds eat the seed and leave the pellets. We've had a little success (but not much) with making 'rissoles' of dampened pellets with seed mixed in. It is easier and less stressful in the long run to do the pellet thing all day, then allow seed for the afternoon feed. Usually (but not always) the bird will realise, with a little hunger as incentive, that the food offered in the usual food dish is actually edible.
Now of course I go to work for 2 and a half days and that always sets things back for by the time I get home at night he has gone to bed. I only get to see him in the morning and even then for just a few minutes. But we'll persevere. I do think we've made progress. He has gone from one end of the verandah to the other while I've been sitting in a chair. He has approached me on the ground quite freely when I've been fiddling at the opposite end of the verandah. Naturally, if I turn around and look at him while he's waddling (and he does, bless him, waddle) towards me, he skedaddles. All in all, however, we make tiny baby steps towards trust, despite appearances of this morning. For that I am grateful. He is a lovely lovely soul.
One other thing, he's 'hooting' more. I'm not sure how to interpret it. It's a quiet hoot but still a hoot. He hoots before he starts climbing down his tree perch. Not every climb down is a 'bad' climb. Sometimes he just wants to investigate what goodies may be on the ground. I answer each hoot with a 'hoot' of my own.
I love this little guy - so overwhelmed with his new life and so brave in spite of everything. I am confident that with time, and whatever time that is, he will be a happy and participating member of the family.
One other thing; mytoos.com. This is the hardest, saddest yet most beneficial bird site I've ever found. I cannot bring myself to read much of it for I just cry and cry. There are so many sad sad cockatoos out there. We've seen them, we've rescued and released some. Algernon is a case in point. He's a free bird. A solo bird at the moment but as they are so long-lived surely he'll meet his fourth wife at some point. We're trying to get another cockatoo now. We have offered to rehome a cockatoo (for eventual release) and are hoping the owners will decide to give us the bird - if they can overcome the plea of their teenage daughter who wants it to come live with her in Brisbane while she attends university! If I had my way I'd tell the daughter to stick it and think of the welfare of the bird -- but we have to be patient, give the information to the owners and hope they make the right decision. Haranguing them will only make them turn against us and therefore kill any chance of them releasing the bird to us. Anyway, here's hoping there will be a good outcome and not another mytoos.com horrific story in the making.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Some progress with Dimitri

Have spent much of this hot day on the computer reading up on clicker training and viewing training videos. Realised that I had to do more (which in a funny way also means doing less - very Zen) to woo Dimitri. I've been using my voice as a clicker but thought perhaps it's not precise enough at a time when the bridge to the reward must be crystalline so dug out my Black Dog clicker. The noise spooked him at first but after I got close enough to hand feed him, I just clicked and treated, clicked and treated until it seemed he had the idea.
Then, after reading an article in the files of the bird click group about clicking and leaving the room for a shy bird I decided to incorporate that into our getting acquainted scenario. Dimitri, when I come through the door, will shuffle on his tree perch, head for the tallest spike branch and then, if I stay still, resume his position on the central crosspiece. I decided to click him when he stayed or, if he did move, to click and leave when he returned to his original position. I even clicked when he didn't move after I said hello (thus singling him out for attention and therefore making him nervous) without opening the door. Click and retreat, click and retreat.
I'm feeling a bit more hopeful as he hasn't leapt to the floor for a few days (I'm better at reading his body language and exiting fast). Also he seemed a little more relaxed with me around. I took my yoga mat out and did an hours yoga with him only a few feet away. It is so obvious what makes him anxious -- attention. Because I was practicing yoga, despite the odd body positions, he wasn't concerned because I wasn't focused on him. As soon as I make eye contact - bang, he's on red alert. Ditto the vacuuming, general cleaning, food and water replenishing for Tachimedes and Cornelius and, come to think of it, him. He likes being ignored. Of course, that's not ideal hence the c/t. All in all it was a good day.
I am following a blogger I found through bird click; fur'n'feathers'training. Obviously knowledgeable yet humble and still learning as her imbroglio with Peebles (think it was Peebles) proves. He bit her and instead of blaming him she looked at what's been happening in his life that might contribute to such unusual behaviour. We are so quick to blame the animals, aren't we? Ten years ago my approach to 'the kids' was entirely different, less informed for instance, than it is today. I loved them as I do now but I struggled with inexperience and ignorance. I assume in ten years time I will look back at this period as one of darkness and ignorance. At least I hope so for then it will mean I'm still learning.
In hindsight it was ridiculously easy to teach the galahs (Marvin and Fern) to step up, to 'eagle', to spin, say yes and no (no was harder) with c/t -- but based on my short acquaintance with Dimitri, galahs seem a bit more solid, less flighty - even when they're new and terrified, than a Little Corella. Actually, when I think of it, the galahs that came into care from the wild were quite ready to be really aggressive - 'one step closer and you're history' while Dimitri only retreats, or when he's in his cage in the morning, quietly hisses. When he's had an opportunity to bite me, he's only mouthed my fingers. He really is a gentle and sensitive soul and deserves the kindest, most patient and empathetic interaction. I am sure he will teach me far more than I will ever teach him. Oh, but I am excited and hopeful by the prospect.