Previously on Monty’s Second Chance: Monty and his friends are surrounded by nature in their new aviary. They watch wild birds and even meet wild parrots. During their time in the aviary they change from chubby pet birds into fit and flighty release candidates. They are ready for release.
It was a sunny day at the release aviary and Monty was contentedly doing what parrots in cages, even big cages, do. That is to say he was sitting around waiting for something to happen. There was relatively little stress in the aviary. The parrots were safe from harm, they had shelter and food was delivered punctually. It was not that Monty wanted to be worried about a hedge fund investment or having to fire Janet from marketing. But he realised that parrots, like humans, were actually meant to be busy foraging, avoiding predators and learning about new things in the world around them. Instead Monty, like humans, didn't really have any of these worries. Monty realised this was why so many parrots in cages, like humans in their cosy modern world, go completely mad!
Monty was spared from madness when all of a sudden something happened. This wasn't just a little something either it was the biggest thing Monty could have imagined. The special parrot doors that looked out to a nearby tree had just opened. If Monty had mammalian lungs he would have lost his breath so shocking was this moment. As you know dear reader, birds of course have a far more advanced respiratory system, so Monty didn't lose his breath but the moment was quite shocking nonetheless.
At first every-birdy was silent. Monty knew this was indeed his second chance. His first chance to live in the wild had been taken from him but now he could be free. He was fit and lean and ready. It was monumental milestone on his Long Walk to Freedom. He was going to see his family again. He was going to be free. From this moment on Monty's life would never be the same again.
Monty flew to the parrot door and landed on the platform that spanned the aviary. With equal parts fear and excitement he stepped out and for the first time in so many months he had a clear view of the world. There were no bars. There were no boundaries.
Two other parrots, Silver and Orange (the colours on their fancy leg-rings) now joined him on the platform. They looked at each other with wide eyes in excitement and then Silver lunged at Monty pushing him of shelf. Monty fell from the shelf but he opened his strong wings and flew. He flew over the aviary and around screaming with joy and then landed in a tree. That had not been how Monty envisioned his release. It was a dirty trick by Silver and was just like what Penguins do when they want to get in the water but want someone else to get eaten by the Leopard Seal first. Monty, however had already forgotten it because he was free and of course dear reader there are no leopard seals in Bonaire's wilderness anyway. Monty screamed and screamed with sheer joy.
Other parrots now flew from the aviary too. In a group they flew in big arcing circles over the trees and over the illegal diabas mines where there weren't any trees any more. Monty and his friends flew towards the distant coast and past over a heard of 16 donkeys. Monty didn't need to use his vast intelligence to observe that such a heard of Donkeys, which collectively would eat about 80kgs of Bonaire's native vegetation every single day were no good for Bonaire's native plants. He could see cactus and distant hills. He could fly up and down, left and right. He could roll and make banked turns and although he wasn't very good at it just yet, he could dance on the wind. Fast flying wild parakeets screeched and joined them and then flew away again.
Now Monty was flying he was so happy. He had been worried about it because he had heard the stories about the flamingos. He didn't want to fly into something unexpected like they do. Even though he was now as fit as any gym goer, Monty decided to take a moment and land in a tree to reflect on things.
It was incredible to be free and in that moment all the trouble and hard times he had gone through were worth it. Monty had stretched his wings and he was free but Monty realised that living in such as messed up ecosystem was not going to be easy. The humans had caused such terrible degradation of his heritage. He wondered what freedom would mean. He realised how cosy it had been to have his food brought to him and to be safe. But he also thought about how living in a cage was as uncomfortable as dealing with real estate agents. At this point dear reader it must be mentioned that after having had more than a few complaints, Monty realised he was being unnecessarily unfair on accountants. At his own choice, and for which no parrot conservationist can be held responsible, for we are but the messenger, Monty has decided he will refer to real estate agents in future. This he claims, is because "Nobody will care if they get a hard time"!
Although it was going to be tough Monty knew there was simply no way to compare life in a cage to this. He was delighted to be free, and to be able to go where he wanted when he wanted. He would have to learn new things quickly but he was a parrot and that's why they are so clever. Monty wished that every parrot could be a lucky as him and have their own second chance.
And so dear reader Monty's tale must draw to a close. It has taken us five parts of a two-part tale to reach this point and for this inconvenience we must apologise. That apology however is trivial in comparison to the one we owe those birds taken from the wild. Please let parrot chicks live in freedom, in the wild with their families. So as not to end on such a sad note it is with great pleasure that we can inform you, dear reader, there will be more tales of Monty, and Olivia (remember her!) and other parrots in forthcoming post upon this blog. If you can't wait until then please do check out news page: http://www.facebook.com/echobonaire.org, ; which we are now updating daily (off the grid internet permitting). Please “Like” our page to keep in touch.
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