- Hi, my name is Katie
and I was last here at Mineral Bottom
a year ago with my Scarlet Macaw, Mercury.
And we're here again this year,
but this year it's a little bit different.
(solemn piano)
I was here a year ago with my Scarlet Macaw, Mercury,
and I also have a Blue and Gold, Mia.
I originally started out with
Bird Tricks for Free Flight with Mia,
and then along came Mercury.
I mainly got Mercury
to try to teach and help Mia in her journey,
and he just ended up being the best bird ever.
He was an absolute rock star.
He came on his first trip and he was just, he was epic.
He was amazing.
Everybody that, that met Mercury,
just absolutely fell in love with him.
He was, he was, there was no words.
And then we got back home and about a month after the trip,
I went to get Mercury out of his crate one day, and he was,
there was vomit, regurgitation,
all over the whole entire cage and he could not
keep anything down and he was regurgitating.
So I rushed him to the vet.
They did some tests and they did some x-rays.
And when they did the x-ray,
they found a mass in his throat.
So I rushed him about two hours away to an emergency vet
who was supposed to specialize in parrots.
And they were going to do a procedure to remove the mass.
And when they put him under the anesthesia
to remove the mass, his heart rate started to drop.
And so they hurried up and they stopped everything,
but he never woke up from the anesthesia.
So I lost my boy.
And that was, that was a very, very, it was very hard.
I just loved the hell out of that bird.
So I didn't know for sure if I would get another bird.
At the time, I just wanted to just focus on Mia,
that all my attentions went to Mia.
And then one day I was working
and I got a call from Jamie and Dave.
- So I was working with one of my free flight students,
Maggie, for about two months,
and she was so excited for the course.
She signed up for it two months
before her bird was even ready to be shipped.
And she got the bird from the same breeder as Halo
and her dream was to fly Enzo outside with Halo.
And they look so much alike,
just a little different personalities,
but it was, it was her dream.
And sadly two months into the training,
she passed away suddenly.
And so here we were dealing with a widowed husband
who wanted to see this bird fulfill Maggie's dream.
(crying)
So we thought what a perfect opportunity.
We've got this awesome flight student
who would benefit from this bird and the bird would benefit
from her training, so we gave Katie a call.
- So then I got the call from Jamie and Dave,
and they were like, so Katie,
we have a special situation for you.
We were wondering if you were interested.
And they told me that they had their current client, Maggie,
had unexpectedly passed away
and she had a baby bird, a Camelot Macaw,
that favored a Scarlet and wanted to know
if I would want him and to pick up with his training
because Maggie's dream was for him to be free flighted
and fly with Halo.
So, and they were like,
you'd have all the time in the world to think about it.
And I'm like, what do I have to think about?
Yes, of course, of course.
So maybe a half a week later
came Enzo.
I went to the airport, picked him up and brought him home,
and we had a week before we left for the flight trip.
And I mean, it just, it couldn't have worked out.
It was, it was great because I had all of the footage
from Dave, Maggie's training sessions with Enzo,
so I was able to watch all of the footage
and completely right where she left off,
I was able to pick up,
I had some concerns.
I was afraid that I wouldn't be able
to form a bond quick enough, but I just, I gave it my all.
I watched the videos and we trained every day.
We probably had like four or five training sessions a day.
And here we are, and I mean, he's,
he's just as much of a rock star as Mercury was.
I mean, he's amazing.
(upbeat rock music)
And I got to watch all of Maggie's footage and I mean,
everything wasn't exactly perfect.
We did have some challenges, unfortunately.
Enzo started barbering his feathers.
I don't know exactly when it took, when it started,
but I'm assuming it's probably after Maggie passed.
The stress of losing his owner and her being gone.
So he does have some barbering,
but since he's been home with me,
we do daily baths and he just absolutely loves his baths.
He really enjoys them and then I've even started
using the aloe spray and he seems to really enjoy that.
And it almost seems to have given him
a little bit of relief,
but I'm hoping that with training again
and regular baths and the diet,
I'm hoping that he'll eventually come out of the barbering.
It's gonna be a work in progress,
but I'm willing to put in the work.
Mineral Bottom is definitely my favorite location.
I mean, it's just, it's breathtaking.
This was, I don't know, just,
it reminds me of being with Mercury,
being on the edge of that cliff
and then him just taking that flight
and then him being in the air and celebrating
and giving out his little, Ahh I'm stuck, how do I get down?
He just had such a personality,
and we had the most fun here at this location,
and it just, it just, I feel like Mercury's here with us.
So Mineral Bottom is definitely my favorite location.
So I like to think that Maggie and Mercury are up in heaven,
you know, taking care of each other.
It completely blows my mind how much
Enzo and Mercury are, are alike.
You know, the vocalizations,
and then their very first flight,
Mercury, he went up in the air and he went so high
and the wind was so strong that day,
and he just kept circling.
And every time he'd come back around and he'd try to land
and the wind would just take him
and you'd hear him go "ahhhh ahhhh" over and over again.
Like, how do I get down?
How do I do this?
I'm trying Mom.
And then we had a similar thing with Enzo.
You know, he went all the way up
and he just kept circling and circling.
And he even let out a couple of the same "ahhhh",
like, how do I get down?
How do I do this?
Their vocalization sound the same.
Enzo might be a teeny bit more nippy,
but we're gonna work through that.
And then it's, I think it's also really,
I don't know the words to use for it,
but Maggie's dream was to fly Enzo with Halo.
And on this trip,
we were having some issues with Halo, Kim's bird.
He doesn't like flying with the other Macaw's.
You know, it really freaks him out and it scares him.
And Enzo is the only bird
that he feels comfortable flying with.
And he's actually, Enzo has actually helped Halo,
take a couple of his, his flights.
It's almost like it's his comfort blanket.
So I think that is also amazing that, you know,
Maggie's dream was for Enzo and Halo to fly together,
and here they are, you know, in Moab flying together.
(mellow piano)
♪ You and I ♪
♪ We were meant to be ♪
♪ I feel it in my soul ♪
♪ Feel it in my soul ♪
♪ Never separated you and me ♪
♪ Broken, made whole ♪
♪ The world it tries to steal our hope ♪
♪ Tries to make us numb ♪
♪ But our love has overcome ♪
♪ And you my dear ♪
♪ You are my prize ♪
♪ When I look into your eyes ♪
♪ Love overflow ♪
♪ I'm never letting go ♪
♪ All my life I give to you ♪
♪ Love breakthrough I'm never letting go ♪
♪ Never ceasing, our love grows ♪
♪ Ever increasing ♪
♪ I won't let you go ♪
♪ Hearts on fire ♪
♪ Through and through ♪
♪ Follow me, I'll follow you ♪
♪ We will pursue ♪
♪ Everything together do ♪
♪ Tests and trials, love renew ♪
♪ Yeah we've made it ♪
♪ We've always been proven true ♪
♪ Still the world it tries to steal our hope ♪
♪ Tries to make us numb ♪
♪ But our love has overcome ♪
♪ And you my dear ♪
♪ You are my prize ♪
♪ When I look into your eyes ♪
♪ Love overflow ♪
♪ I'm never letting go ♪
♪ All my life, I give to you ♪
♪ Love break through I'm never letting go ♪
♪ Never ceasing, our love grows ♪
♪ Ever increasing ♪
♪ Never letting go ♪
♪ All my life I give to you ♪
♪ Love break through ♪
♪ I'm never letting go ♪
♪ Never ceasing, our love grows ♪
♪ Ever increasing ♪
♪ I won't let you go ♪
♪ We were made ♪
♪ We were made for each other ♪