It's not at all what I expected. Don't get me wrong. What I wanted most of all, and still want, is my Sun Conure back. She was the sweetest bird I've ever met.
Not that I've met a lot of birds. My parents adopted a couple Cockatiels when I was young, but they were nothing like Aurora, our beautiful lady bird.
Today We Pick Up DASH!
Here's the story. Through our efforts to find and recover Aurora, we posted several times on the Nextdoor App. More than a few people in our surrounding area saw at least one of those posts.
We also walked and drove around our neighborhood slowly, calling out her name. I did my whistle that she knows so well. Aurora was nowhere to be found, but we did talk to several of our neighbors on the way.
One of our neighbors is a lady who was out walking her freshly groomed poodle. She has a son who lives nearby and he has an autistic son himself.
Sound familiar? They also have a Pineapple (aka Greencheek) Conure.
It must be fate calling because this is the exact same scenario that unfolded when Aurora came into our lives.
The noise of the Conure (even though Greencheeks are calmer than Sun Conures) disturbs the autistic boy. From what I understand, the father of the autistic boy is physically disabled so we're going to go pick up Dash later today.
A Health Plan!
Dash comes with a health plan for $20.00 a month that we'll take over. Her wings are clipped and she has regular check-ups with the vet through the plan. We also have agreed to pay $400 in two $200 installments.
Dash comes with her own cage, which looks nicer than the one we have for Aurora. That means we'll have an extra cage in case Aurora returns by some miracle. We've heard tales of birds reuniting with their owners after much time passed by. You never know.
Sorrow, Shame, and Excitement
Laugh all you want, but when Aurora flew off it really hurt. She wasn't a cage bird, she was a cuddler. The past two weeks have been full of difficult emotions. Sorrow for her loss has been the most prominent, but also shame for not taking better care of her.
My wife and I have admitted that part to each other and we won't let it happen again. Even birds with clipped wings can escape, but we'll be fully prepared going forward.
And with that, I'll finish with one more pic of Dash. She looks like a playful, cheerful gal. Dash is only a year and half old and looks like a little rascal to me. Emotions of excitement and gratitude are beginning to take over.
Thanks for reading. I'll post a follow up once Dash becomes accustomed to her new home and people.
And as always.....
Bottom Image Courtesy Of Hive.io Brand Assets
