New Arrivals !

It was mid to late October that the Parakeets arrived in the garden, emerald green birds taking over the garden with 15 birds at a time, feeding on the feeders, or simply climbing around the Magnolia tree and various branches on the garden trees. The gazebo was a favourite perch where they would sit and watch us through the bi-folds.



Fairly bold birds who unlike the native birds did not move for the Grey Squirrels who literally “attack” and destroy the feeders to get at their contents.

Finally though these feisty mammals have met their match. For the odd squirrel who defied the Parakeets aerial dive bombing to move them on and who cling on usually inverted to the feeder the Parakeets simply sit on the branch and just stare at the squirrel, whether the squirrel becomes uneasy due to the staring or simply nervous of six or seven Parakeets surrounding it, the squirrel will relinquish the feeder and moves onto the branches of the Scots Pine, twitching it’s tail in annoyance



The Parakeets rarely shared feeders with one another, but happily let the Nuthatches, Blue and Great Tits feed alongside them.







The male bird of the family group with the coloured colour of black and pink. Larger than the other birds in the flock, one of the few among the flock who will share a feeder.



The birds have been flying around the area for about a year, in small groups of two or three, uttering their unmistakable call and with their long tails and bright green plumage very recognisable. Last year they made an unsuccessful attempt at breeding on Moore Nature Reserve. To the east of Stockton Heath they have been present at Dunham Massey for a number of years, plenty of old oaks full of holes providing them with nesting areas. It was a decade or so ago steve took me to a park in Manchester where the birds had set up residence. They are now widespread across the U.K. and have earned the status of the most Northern Parrot, as there is a colony in one of the parks in Glasgow.



There are many urban legends as to how the Parakeets came to be in the U.K, ranging from Jimmi Hendrix releasing a pair in Carnaby Street to a mass release post the making of an adventure film back in the 70’s.



The more likely reality is that the birds have established themselves as a result of pet releases, and probably an increased numbers of birds were released after “Parrot flu” was identified, a disease with pneumonia like symptoms which can be transmitted to humans.

The south of England was the initial hotspot for the Parakeets, and many London parks have roosts with several thousand birds, around the Peter Pan statue, tourists hand feed the birds.



The birds originate from North Pakistan where they are considered a pest due to the damage they can do to crops when huge flocks descend to feed.



Their arrival at our garden provided a real blast of colour, and they are certainly very entertaining to watch. After a few days they arrived at 8.00am give or take a minute or two fed for a while, sat about for a while, got off and returned literally at 14:45, it was almost possible to set your watch by them

The photo above is an alternative to the usual Robin on a spade handle shot !!!



The downside of their visits during October and November was that most days it rained or was dark, so there were limited photographic opportunities, not that it did not become a daily ritual !!!

The weather change late November and there where a few days of frosts, and the birds coming in as a flock stopped, it was now just one or two birds and gone was their regular schedule, it was more oh there’s a Parakeet.

As of December even single birds are now a rarity and they are certainly not small flocks flying around the houses locally and perching up in the oaks around the pond.

Personally I miss them coming to the garden, and hopefully they will return at some-point.