Parakeet
No, I haven’t grown a penis or started to shave my face, but I’ve suddenly become incredibly interested in birds. Birds have always fascinated me, more so perhaps, because I lived with an ornithologist for around 10 years.
Last week, while glued to an episode of Desperate Housewives I was suddenly distracted by a large green thing outside. The light was fading but I was determined to take a photo of the green thing, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a parakeet. It was just on the other side of the hedge – normally they stay up high in the branches of the silver birch trees nearby – I’d never seen one so close.
Finally it flew off to join a couple of others that were in the cherry tree at the bottom of my garden, before flying off elsewhere. I was checking to see if it would come back the following day which it did, and is now a regular amongst the great tits, chaffinches etc.
Yesterday, as I was waiting patiently for my green friend to pop by I glanced down at Hermie’s snow-covered garden only to see the parakeet in my garden. Yes, MY garden. Then it struck me that the green bird below doesn’t feed from the ground and that although it was green and more or less the same size as the parakeet, it’s tail was shorter, it had a bright red head and a very long beak.
A woodpecker! A green one! I once had a great spotted woodpecker (although I suspected, from the noise it was making, that it was a white-backed woodpecker) hacking away into one of the cherry trees, but had never seen a green woodpecker until yesterday.
I took about 20 photos of it but the overcast sky and lack of a good zoom lense meant that it didn’t look like much at all. I’m all a-flutter with my new friends and I wonder who will visit next.
I’d like an owl. Or a penguin.
18 Comments
Do parakeets really live in Belgium? We’ve got some lovebirds in our street. A friend of mine released them when she left her husband about 6 years ago.
I’ve got a robin and a blue tit that sit on the windowsdill to remind me me to feed them
Yes, Anji, they do. There are many stories about how they came to Belgium, but the most believable one is when Antwerp Zoo had to close due to financial matters. They released the Parakeets thinking that they’d die but the bastards have survived.
They are noisy (particularly in summer) and now they are obviously going after the average bird’s food.
They are quite beautiful though:)
Or a puffin – love those beaks
I’ve returned to birdwatching recently, having been very keen as a kid, and joined the RSPB just before Christmas.
Went to Venus Pool reserve in Shropshire at the weekend, and was lucky enough to see 3 Smew (a kind of duck) which is very rare in the UK, and a Water Rail.
It’s a fascinating pastime, and just watching the little feathery things feeding in my garden passes time in a rewarding way.
There are parakeets flying around in Amsterdam too – quite where this Low Countries phenomenon originated, I have no idea.
Feed them, they’ll flock your garden. Only thing is, they’ll expect it everyday. Then they’ll start stealing Hermie’s food, and sitting on his back, like that bird in that B.C. cartoon.
Bird watching is so relaxing, and they do get up to antics.
in my neck of the woods, sparrows, grackles and blackbirds are what one usually sees. lately, parakeets have been seen and heard around here, and I practically piss myself with joy it makes me so happy. colorful birds are so rare here. if I see a penguin I’ll be sure and photograph it for you.
Green Woodpeckers? I had no idea. Fabulous.
There are colonies of wild budgies in Florida, and Monk Parakeets in various US cities (ridiculously cold places like Chicago, even – unless they’ve been extirpated by over-zealous conservation officials). We’ve had lovebirds and a couple of budgies here, but I’m 99.9% sure they didn’t survive the winter.
Oh, and the hawk is back.
And… Happy New Year, now that I’ve finally gotten around to it.
Only the usual cardinals, crows and canada geese around here these days, but an owl has take up residence in the neighborhood lately. About a month ago I was out back with the dog at night and playing with my phone when she started bounding towards me. I looked up and just saw something giant and white floating towards me without making a sound. Only when it decided I wasn’t food and flew straight up over the roof did I realize that it was one of the biggest owls I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen it out hunting a few times since. I tell it where the squirrels and opossums are hiding when I do.
R’pus, how can you live in Canadia and call Chicago a ridiculously cold place?!? And, yes, the monk parakeets still live in Chicago — not that far from the Obamas’ place.
Anyway Z, enjoy the colorful birds as they can help brighten a gloomy winter and early spring. I always look forward to seeing the red-winged blackbirds when they’re around the place I work. Just remember to notify the authorities if flamingoes take over your newt pond.
We feed the birds in our garden, the only trouble with that is standing at the sink to wash-up looking out at the birds and then noticing the water is cold and you have been stood there two hours!
Don’t mention owls, or you know who will return …
Thanks, Debster….
@Anonymous, too – large portions of the US of A are farther north than the bit of Canada where I live. See here for an almost-coherent discussion.
You’re either turning into your ex or my mum.
Loads of green parakeets around here for the past four or five years.
They are becoming a bit of a nuisance to be honest.
When they first came I took loads of photo’s but they strip trees, empty bird feeders and make a lot of noise:))
Must admit that they are very colourful though.
Ken
Ken, they are very noisy and hang about in large flocks, in general, but seeing such a brightly coloured bird on an overcast day while unemployed was a great highlight. The pros of unemployment
There are big flocks of Conures in San Francisco and Sunnyvale (an incredibly insipid, nothing town in Silicon Valkey). The SF birds have both a book and a movie: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (about/by a man who “tames” them and gets to know them each individually). Very cool. Conures are small parrots, mostly green with red/orange/yellow along the back of their heads.
When in SF along the Embarcadero, Pier 39, Ghiardelli Square, Telegraph Hill, and other areas, if you see a dense flock of birds or hear a raucus call, look up. They are often in the palm trees that are sprinkled around that north and east side of the City.
@Clem – I’ve read the book, seen the movie, and filmed the parrots (briefly). I love ‘em.