Typist: Bethany
Nothing is more adorable than a sleepy cockatoo. Perhaps sleepy Leo is cute because he is less likely to surprise me with an ear piercing scream. Maybe when he gets sleepy I feel that I am doing a good job of keeping him active and stimulated. I could spend all day, every day watching Leo play, chew, climb, eat, drink, etc, but there is something about seeing my parrot settle in for a quiet roost during various times of the day that never fails to "aw." My little feathery ham for the camera, however, rarely lets me capture a shot of him fluffed up on one foot for nap time. This week, Leo was either often extremely tired or my determination to snap a sleepy shot made him relinquish his usual "no sleeping photos please" rule. In fact, as I type, he is making his version of "shh" (which is about ten times louder and much more gravely than most humans would consider a soothing "shh" sound.) Still, I am sticking with my earlier statement that he is a super cute, sleepy bird!

Typist: Bethany
Early last year I started a training process to get triton cockatoo Leo to learn to wear a flight harness. Last year, though, was an entire year full of all things inconsistent, to say the least. So another season of more warm, sunny days has come to Cascadia and Leo was only adventuring from the confines of his Popemobile. When our animal communicator visited last month, I asked Leo about his training harness. The animal communicator said he would wear one if it was purple. Leo relayed through the animal communicator that he understands the harness means he could have more fun while outside. Now I am stuck trying to teach him just that... again. Upon first researching the various ways to teach Leo to love his harness, the "just put it on and go have fun" method actually struck most true with fitting Leo's personality. Leo has now been on a forest hike and a couple of urban hikes as well as (what looks to me like enjoying) time in the sun from trees in the front and back yard in his new royal purple harness.