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As I shoot tonight I am writing this LJ in my head.
I'm standing on a briefcase in the middle of the parrot room floor. There is something poking my foot--inevitably some small splinter of a twig from the untreated tree branches in their cages. It annoys me and I try pulling it out. I hold the camera with one hand, snapping photos while hopping on one foot and trying to remove the intruder with my free hand. I fail and resign myself to the discomfort as the rock-like twig sits smooshed between my foot and the briefcase.
The briefcase is in the middle of the parrot room because it lends height, since the two Elmer's Poster Boards are actually on top of Petey's cage. Two lights are illuminating the space. They are both craft lights, one attached to the top of his cage, the other to Soph's cage door. Athie is front and center, and is doing a beautiful job tonight. He loves the flowers and the attention--always has.
Soph is running around on the floor. She isn't convinced the new "set" won't kill her, so she's letting Athie go first. She darts here and there and ultimately rests on the briefcase next to me, one little scaley foot on my toe.
Petey is on Athie's cage looking... a touch frazzled. What Mommy has done to his cage he has no idea. Will it ever be the same? And why is that damn Grey on there?? His sworn enemy looking pretty with flowers on his very own cage! (They all regularly go on and in each other cages to 'vestigate so this isn't like it's traumatic.)
I've taken some pics of Soph now but she isn't really in the mood yet, so she's playing supervisor on my shoulder. After the fifth time she attempts to dissemble my camera I put her on the cage with Petey.
After a few minutes I'm all done with Athie. 113 shots--I'm downloading them into my computer now. I've given him lots of praise and a big almond--his favorite. Then out to the livingroom to sit with J.
As I download I'm also sitting on the floor. While making sure both Sophia and Petey are watching, I've placed two almonds obviously out on the whiteboard, and then hidden two in the basket. Will they take the bait?? I sit on the floor so that Petey feels less threatened. I pretend to ignore them.
Petey, surprisingly, is the bravest. He mosies over and paces back and forth on the cage next to his. Finally he gets his courage up and hops over to the side of his cage for a closer look. Yep, it's a real almond. He skirts the top, still nervous, then slowly pops his head over the side... Coast is still clear. He crawls up. He quickly grabs an almond and then darts back over to Soph's cage, landing with a whomp. Well, we can't let Petey have all the fun, so Sophia shimmeys up the cage to grab one for herself. Almond securely in beak, she slides fireman-style down the side of the bars, hops onto the floor, and then crawls back onto Mom.
I'm still downloading, and she's now on my head, contentedly eating an almond.
Petey finishes his and returns to his cage. He follows the same routine, skirting the top, and then finally crawling onto the mat. He snatches the almond (this time inside the basket), and decides to check things out! He climbs to the top of the handle and tests the flowers--hibiscus, marjoram... Not too bad! He starts nibbling gently on the marjoram.
Well Petey can't have all of the fun! Sophia climbs back up and grabs an almond. She decides that perhaps attempting a tarzan slide down the light cord would be faster than the fireman routine, so she reaches for the wire, as I leap to intervene. Petey hops off of the basket and races onto Soph's cage.
It's been a few minutes since all of this excitement. Petey has returned to the basket a few times. He's retrieved the last almond and like a solemn old man has gone into his cage (under the set), closed the door himself, and is sitting in the back corner, relishing the last of the evening's treats.
Soph remained mostly on my head. Now she is playing with a hibiscus on the floor. I think she's pretending to be brain-damaged as she goes in little circles. I shall pick some more flowers and see if I can coax her into a few more pics.
I do not attempt to coax Petey into anything--ever. My silent promise to him when he came home from that shop was that, to the best of my power I'd never force him to do anything he didn't want to. Obvious exceptions exist, but this rule remains for coming out of his cage, stepping up (in general), or interacting with us in the livingroom. Now it includes pictures. It's all about bribery! :) I do try to coax Soph and Athie into things sometimes because 1) almonds are generally old news and therefore have no bribery power, and 2) otherwise they'd never get around to doing stuff. lol
I'm standing on a briefcase in the middle of the parrot room floor. There is something poking my foot--inevitably some small splinter of a twig from the untreated tree branches in their cages. It annoys me and I try pulling it out. I hold the camera with one hand, snapping photos while hopping on one foot and trying to remove the intruder with my free hand. I fail and resign myself to the discomfort as the rock-like twig sits smooshed between my foot and the briefcase.
The briefcase is in the middle of the parrot room because it lends height, since the two Elmer's Poster Boards are actually on top of Petey's cage. Two lights are illuminating the space. They are both craft lights, one attached to the top of his cage, the other to Soph's cage door. Athie is front and center, and is doing a beautiful job tonight. He loves the flowers and the attention--always has.
Soph is running around on the floor. She isn't convinced the new "set" won't kill her, so she's letting Athie go first. She darts here and there and ultimately rests on the briefcase next to me, one little scaley foot on my toe.
Petey is on Athie's cage looking... a touch frazzled. What Mommy has done to his cage he has no idea. Will it ever be the same? And why is that damn Grey on there?? His sworn enemy looking pretty with flowers on his very own cage! (They all regularly go on and in each other cages to 'vestigate so this isn't like it's traumatic.)
I've taken some pics of Soph now but she isn't really in the mood yet, so she's playing supervisor on my shoulder. After the fifth time she attempts to dissemble my camera I put her on the cage with Petey.
After a few minutes I'm all done with Athie. 113 shots--I'm downloading them into my computer now. I've given him lots of praise and a big almond--his favorite. Then out to the livingroom to sit with J.
As I download I'm also sitting on the floor. While making sure both Sophia and Petey are watching, I've placed two almonds obviously out on the whiteboard, and then hidden two in the basket. Will they take the bait?? I sit on the floor so that Petey feels less threatened. I pretend to ignore them.
Petey, surprisingly, is the bravest. He mosies over and paces back and forth on the cage next to his. Finally he gets his courage up and hops over to the side of his cage for a closer look. Yep, it's a real almond. He skirts the top, still nervous, then slowly pops his head over the side... Coast is still clear. He crawls up. He quickly grabs an almond and then darts back over to Soph's cage, landing with a whomp. Well, we can't let Petey have all the fun, so Sophia shimmeys up the cage to grab one for herself. Almond securely in beak, she slides fireman-style down the side of the bars, hops onto the floor, and then crawls back onto Mom.
I'm still downloading, and she's now on my head, contentedly eating an almond.
Petey finishes his and returns to his cage. He follows the same routine, skirting the top, and then finally crawling onto the mat. He snatches the almond (this time inside the basket), and decides to check things out! He climbs to the top of the handle and tests the flowers--hibiscus, marjoram... Not too bad! He starts nibbling gently on the marjoram.
Well Petey can't have all of the fun! Sophia climbs back up and grabs an almond. She decides that perhaps attempting a tarzan slide down the light cord would be faster than the fireman routine, so she reaches for the wire, as I leap to intervene. Petey hops off of the basket and races onto Soph's cage.
It's been a few minutes since all of this excitement. Petey has returned to the basket a few times. He's retrieved the last almond and like a solemn old man has gone into his cage (under the set), closed the door himself, and is sitting in the back corner, relishing the last of the evening's treats.
Soph remained mostly on my head. Now she is playing with a hibiscus on the floor. I think she's pretending to be brain-damaged as she goes in little circles. I shall pick some more flowers and see if I can coax her into a few more pics.
I do not attempt to coax Petey into anything--ever. My silent promise to him when he came home from that shop was that, to the best of my power I'd never force him to do anything he didn't want to. Obvious exceptions exist, but this rule remains for coming out of his cage, stepping up (in general), or interacting with us in the livingroom. Now it includes pictures. It's all about bribery! :) I do try to coax Soph and Athie into things sometimes because 1) almonds are generally old news and therefore have no bribery power, and 2) otherwise they'd never get around to doing stuff. lol
