I don't even know where to begin, I'm still in awe of everything that Winston did tonight!

It all started when Dave and I were playing Guitar Hero and the birds were singing along to the music of course. Winston became very interested in me and/or the guitar that I was playing. He flew over a couple times, only to get an inch or two away from landing and getting scared at the last second and fly off. That's normal, happens all the time. But during a break between songs, I motioned for him to come over and he flew to the playgym next to me. Then......he stepped up on me even though I had NO TREAT IN MY HAND I figured that was just a fluke.........til he did it again a few minutes later.......

We finish playing Guitar Hero so I run into the other room and get a treat to reward him the next time he steps up. He sees the treat immediately, FLIES to me and lands on my arm He flies off after a minute, I back up a few feet, show the treat again, he flies over again!! It's recall training in the making!

We try something more, I pass the treat to Dave, he flies to Dave! Honestly he has never stepped up on Dave since shortly after he came home with us (Dave just doesn't work with him much). After that, all night he was flying to both of us and even stepping up on me numerous times later when I didn't have a treat. We've never had this much contact in one night, he was just so interested in everything I was doing tonight.

And it doesn't stop there.................

He discovered Lulu's Foraging Basket (a wicker basket filled with all sorts of foot and chew toys for her, she loves it) - he's seen this basket soooo many times but was afraid to play with it or in it. Tonight he not only stepped on it, he chewed the basket, he chewed BALSA WOOD, he chewed SISAL ROPE. I was blown away, he's never done much more than beak a few toys

Nope, not finished yet......................

Time for veggie dinner - Winston discovers corn. I mean he's maybe nibbled corn once or twice in the past, but never really ate any. He likes white things the most and I'm trying to get him to eat more variety and more greens too. Tonight he ate corn pieces - really ate them - and also broccoli.

Here's a few pics, the ones with Dave are from tonight obviously. Dave noticed his great foot grip too, he said, "Wow he has a death grip now!"





And these are from this weekend, the Pudgy Budgie:

Wow, what a night of fun for all and Dave looks soooooo proud!

How awesome! I'm so excited for you! What a big night for him- I wonder what caused all the breakthroughs? I hope things continue in this direction!

PERSERVERANCE!! That is what it's all about. Good job! Tell Dave we can still look like a man and have a lil bird on our hand. LOL.
Nice, I know the feeling. Kind of like meeting someone, a new buddy and finding out you have kids the same age and you have a lot in common.
A new friend.
Winston is in the flock now!
Mark

good going winston.

Very good going Winston. I guess he made his spot in the flock.

Sarah that was just the best post! Winston has come such a long way in a relatively short period of time.

YAY! Wow, Winston is doing great!

I love seeing Dave interact with the budgies, it is so cute seeing the big, tough guy hanging out with the wee budgies. And yes, he still very much looks like a man.

I don't know what it was about last night that suddenly made him so confident, but it was very cool. His skill when flying to us was great too, he only stumbled a couple times - most of his landings on us were dead on.

What a wonderful post. When I saw the thread I thought "Oh, I love Winston stories" but I didn't expect anything that good. I've said this before and I'll say it agin. You give me hope. Currently I am going backwards with my guys. Congratulations.