So happy to have you here with us at PC Shanlung. Many of us have kept up with your adventures. I feel so lucky to have you right here with us.
Thank You For Joining!

Glad to have you aboard Shanlung!

Two questions for the moment:

Aren't you worried about the string or whatever it is tied to her leg catching on/in something - thus doing her harm?

Are there any concerns about a predator bird such as a hawk/falcon/etc. catching her in mid-air?

Shanlung, thank you so much for updating us with the events in your interesting life. It is so unfortunately true that in order to have love and joy, we must risk and experience the heartbreak of loss. I will feel forever your personal sense of loss at having to give up Tinkerbell and Yingshiong. You must take great comfort in all the wonderful memories of your time with them, and you should take pride in providing so well for their future.

You know, its all very well when you speak of recall training Yingshiong, to say that "no one ever thought of trying", but I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You have a very special gift, and can quickly establish a rapport and mutual understanding between yourself and these feathered wonders that few can match.

Shanlung,

What a blessing your time with Tinkerbell was! Your pictures are wonderful! I especially liked the ones with Tink on the motor bike. I have a Vespa......never in my wildest imagination did I ever think to take my CrackerJack for a ride with him on the handlebars! Tink looked like she was having the time of her life! Your pics also reminded me of two of the best years in my life....in the late 60's.......my father was in the Air Force and we lived near Taipai. Taiwan is a beautiful country with the kindest people. Blessings to you and your wife.

Dawn and Crackerjack

its always wonderful to read your story and posts Shanlung.

Grandma, jimpierce



Crackerjack Mom,

:-)

I think I did say we did things warned about. Now that I done that, such as
riding on bike with Tink, do be very very careful about taking bird on bike.

Here is one of my favourite. Photo of us three on the rented bike. See how I wound rope around the rear view mirrors for her perch.



The years I spend in Taiwan were great even before Tinkerbell came into our lives. With Tinkerbell, that became magical.

Many Taiwanese were amused that Tinkerbell probably being to more of Taiwan than they ever did. To Taroko Gorge at least 4 times, to Green Island 3 times , to Kenting 3 times.

I am glad you being in Taiwan and known the beauty and the warmth of those people there. They are the friendliest of all the people that I known in different parts of the world.

~J~

Tinkerbell was very conscious of the leash in a positive way. If that lease touched her feet, she would take the body leash and shook that to move the main leash off her feet. Sometimes, she would hold that leash in her beak before starting flight to me, then dropping it from beak to continue on to me.

PB030112 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!



See above photo and that URL of that photo. This photo is part of a sequential shot of Tink flying to me in park taken Nov 06. If you go to start of sequence, you see the line behind her. On nearing me, she flared her tail and wings to bleed speed. The swivel and hook continued in momentum taking the main leash line forward and thus out of the way during her landing on me. You can see this again and again in any of sequential shots of her landing on me. Tinkerbell harness is simple and very light, about 3 grams in weight. No other harness that are sold commercially come close.

As for predators, I am paranoid of them all. There are eagles and hawks in Taiwan. And huge jungle ravens. At all our travels, Tinkerbell carrier cage was always on hand, even in hikes in those mountains. Many times, Tink went back into that carrier or never came out from there. I watch and watch and scan and scan all around before Tink was flown. Even then, I remained scared.


Quito's Qage,

Thank you.

I think I have some rapport with birdies and beasties. By treating them with respect and dignity due to another sentient being, they seem to know and respond and give even more back in return.



With BP2s and U2. Those are my friend fids. Spoke with them for 30 minutes to give them time to get used to me first. Surprised my friend who warned me they were biters.



With a friendly owl in Laos. Harry Potter not the only one with owl.

I guess one day I get nailed.


The partings were painful. Made even more in that I had to prepare for that way before we parted. I trained Yu family for a year prior to final handover of Tinkerbell. Part of myself dying each time I rejoiced with Yu with each success he had withTinkerbell.

You seen in that last letter that 6 months before YS was handed over, preparations to set out the best future for him was already negotiatiated and in place.

I was the lucky one in that I flew back into Brisbane the same evening after handing him over to Jurong Bird Park. It was already bad for me. I only realised later how much worse it was for my wife to remain in that apartment with YS perches and reminders just about everywhere.

She is now with me down under having flown here morning 10 June 07.

I am not certain how long I will stay here. But we are very uncertain if we are able to handle anymore of goodbyes. We agreed that the only future birdie in the house has to be cooked, grilled or curried. Or maybe the only birdie we keep will be the Norwegian Blue.

welcome shanlung!!! now i can finally follow more closely your story. im so sad that you also had to give up your shama too. does the person that has tinkerbell have your shama too? i have followed your adventures and post for awhile now. at least 1-1/2 yrs.

An update.

Come 20 Dec 07, me and my wife will fly off to Taiwan
to be with sweet Tink again to mid Jan.

I will blog that daily into my Livejournal.

With the last farewell to Yingshiong, me and my wife
decided its just too
agonising to have to say goodbyes to creatures.

No birds will get inside house unless it is fried,
curried or roasted. Only when we are certain we
stay on for a few years (no such thing as forever in
our planet as of now), will we get a furry or
feathered companion to live with.

But wild beasties do befriend us.


At first, only crows and bush turkey came regularly
for the food I set for birds. The earlier flock of
crows that I disliked swarming about the food dishes
resolved itself to a single crow that condescend to
patronising us. I do like this particular crow that
you can see in video later.

We called the crow Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And if you have not seen above, do yourself a BIG
favour and see that movie.

PM was given that name because she did this sound of
one of the Kodamas (forest spirits) in that movie. We
hung stuff in boxes that needed to be pull up feet
over beak like Tinkerbell pulling up target stick on
chain. PM did that after a few minutes and was the
only crow here that did that. PM is still painfully
shy and extremely wary, but less so of my wife. But
then, I had to leave for office too early in morning.
Placing food for PM to pull up (video in above) became

a ritual for us.

If I have more time later on, I will go into formal
clicker training with wild creatures and see if that
will be the bridge into deeper relationships with them

to go beyond a bribe provider.

Rainbow Lorikeets still fly about the trees across the

road. I have yet to prepare the special food required
for them to try to entice them to us.

Two butcher birds that I mistakenly called currawongs
are regular friends. One friendly and the other still
very shy. The friendly one will fly through the open
door to sing to me to announce his presence and will
take mince from my hand. The shy one refused to take
from my hand.

A pied magpie is another regular caller on my
verandah, a most beautiful and elegant creature. He
apparently talk as captured by my wife in her videos

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.


Photos of birds coming to my feeders

Birds @ home - a photoset on Flickr




Bush tail possums came for their nightly feedings, a
one eyed possum and what I call 'mother and child'. I
was pleased that the possums will spook and run
away when other people walked on the foot path 30-40
feet away. Yet the possums accepted us sitting a foot
away from them. And just a few weeks ago, the child
allowed me to stroke his back as well. His mom got
used to me a while back already.

Photos of bushtail possums at my veranda and allowing
me stroking them
Possums @ home - a photoset on Flickr


Video of me stroking the possums are also in above.

My wife keep a blog and update that a lot more
regularly than I ever did that perhaps you might like
to read as well. If you think you are a bad learner
driver, you have not known my wife yet. I think
driving instructors might even pay my wife not to
engage them as driving instructor. After all, I am
willing to continue to pay them to minimise stress on
myself in teaching her how to drive. She is a lot
better with birds and creatures than she is behind the

wheel.

shimmertje's Journal



Warmest regards

Shanlung

Your story is incredible, wish I would have stumbled upon it when I began my relationship with exotics. I absolutely love the pictures and videos of Tinkerbell and Yingshiong. Yingshiong's song is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing, I'm going to be doing back reading of your blogs tonight!