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I went back to the Think Parrots Show again this year! This year I decided to break the driving up and stayed in a hotel for two nights, as it meant less stressing about timings and traffic etc. So I drove down on the Saturday and came back the Monday. The hotel was about 2 mins away from the venue and the show was on the Sunday. This meant I could enjoy the show and not have to worry about driving back or leaving early etc. It took about 2.5 hours to get there and about 4.5 hours to get home (traffic on the M25 was atrocious!) I took Alfie with me and this is the first time he's stayed in a hotel. I wasn't sure how he would react but as usual, he took everything in his stride and had a lovely time! I stocked up on all sorts of toys and treats for him which should hopefully last a while. Here's some photos of our adventure! Hotel with Alfie in his travel cage/wagon: Alfie exploring the hotel: Waiting to get in Inside! We saw lots of other parrots and watched all three masterclasses on various topics. There were loads of vendors there selling all sorts of parrot related goodies. It was a great day. Alfie wasn't too worried and enjoyed all the fuss and attention he got- except when people tried to poke their fingers in his cage (why do people do that?!). I warned them but then he gave them an extra stern warning by lunging at them if they didn't get out of the way quick enough! There was also a free flight display - which wasn't quite as well organised last year. Last year there was one guy with lots of different parrots and he intoduced them all, talked about them for a while and demonstrated them free flying. This year it was a group of people with lots of macaws who let the bird free fly but didn't really talk much. It was impressive to watch them all flocking together but then it went a bit wrong when some seagulls took an interest. One landed on top of a large sign and refused to come back, one got chased into a tree and hunkered down to get away from the seagulls, one ended up on the venue roof and wandered off. All of the goodies! Back at the hotel. Alfie was really tired after his busy day so didn't get into too much mischief in the room on the Sunday evening. He just chilled out and had a nice snooze! All packed up and ready for home The haul! One tired birdy, back home and safe

Wow, Alfie really had a nice haul there. I hope someone turned down his bed while he was staying in such nice accommodations. Something about dragging them around in their wagons that really appeals to me.

What a cool thing to do bringing Alfie along with you! Thank you for sharing all your pics with us. Alfie is one spoiled birdie!

Oh, I am so jealous! That looks super cool! Alfie seemed to enjoy it. I am someone who can't stand to see parrots outside loose like that. I don't care if they have Clipped wings ( which I am very much against) IT scares me to see..Thanks for sharing, I loved the pictures! Looks like so much fun!

Wow, wish there was something like that in my area! There isn't to my knowledge. It looks like you got a nice haul of stuff too. We used to have a "bird fair" about 1.5 hours away I went to ever year. Not as large, but I could pick up all kinds of goodies. It has disappeared though. Glad Alfie did OK in the hotel. I've always thought Timber would be OK as long as we were there with him. He's pretty adaptable if he can see his "people." To locations anyway, toys not so much He still takes take warming up to any new toy or cage addition. Glad you had a good time and enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for sharing!

I was his chauffeur, his maid and his cook. No change from normal really. 🤣 I do have a backpack carrier for him as well, but that only has one perch in it and the food/water bowls are fixed in with velcro, so he normally rips them off and chucks them to the bottom of the carrier, leaving me with water running down my back! It also only has one perch in it and I was worried about him being knocked around if I used that at the show. His travel cage is obviously a lot sturdier (but also heavier) so the wagon makes it easier for us to get around at that kind of event. Plus it has space for all the goodies I bought whilst there, so there was less for me to carry! And it also means I can chat to people as they come over to see him, whereas with the backpack they'd always be behind me. And again, Alfie being the boisterous little so and so that he is, it didn't take long for him to adjust to it at all. He's less keen when we had to go over grass or bumpy areas but once we were on concrete or inside the building where the flooring was smooth, he was fine and settled really quickly.

Yeah I think we're really lucky to have something like this here. There is another similar event being held up North in the UK but I met someone at the Think Parrots show who said it wasn't as good and they said it wouldn't be worth me making the trip all that way for it. So I think I'll stick to this one for my annual event and keep an eye out for other bird events closer to home as well. I'm also really lucky that Alfie is so boisterous. He takes most things in his stride and seems to adapt really well. I knew he'd be ok with the long journey as we did it last year. I wasn't sure what to expect in the hotel and figured he might be a little unsure at first, but when I let him out he stepped out if his cage like he owned the whole hotel, let alone the room we were in.🤣 He did really well at the show itself. Again, I knew what to expect from last year and the time I went without him a few year back (pre-covid). I knew it would be full of people and quite noisy but he got some respite whenever we went to the masterclasses and used that time to preen himself and have a quick powernap. When we were in amongst all the people and stalls he took it all in and enjoyed all the attention he got along the way.

I have some mixed feelings about it. I think my preference would for them to be harnessed with a long line to allow some freedom of flight, but also still within control. Last year they had one person with all sorts of different species of parrots (plus a toucan!) demonstrating free flight and it was a lot more controlled. He brought one bird out as a time, talked about them, explained about their species and some of their training then did short back and forth recalls from perches or through hoops that were being held up by people. It didn't attract any attention from the local birds (e.g seagulls or crows) and it was really interesting and informative. And all of his birds were very well trained. Each bird had a short session out and then was put away safely before the next bird was brought out. And it was all at a low height as well. This year it was a bunch of people with macaws - just regular parrots owners instead of any kind of specialist trainer. It was led by the guy who did the second 'masterclass' called "confident wings". I'm not sure why they asked him to speak because he's not an expert and not a parrot trainer. Although it was an interesting talk it wasn't very professional and there wasn't much information to take away from it compared to the other masterclasses. This years free flight display was a bit more chaotic as they just released their macaws to free fly. It was impressive to see so many macaws in the sky and to hear them communicating. But then it all went a bit awry when they couldn't recall their birds back and the seagulls got involved. And some of them flew too high to had difficulty getting back to their owners. That kind of free flight concerns me more because it's a lot more unpredictable and dangerous.

Sounds like a blast - thank you so much for sharing the photos -- I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your adventure!