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Herb Riddle / Photos

The green visitors

I had a shock on the morning of December 23, for as I looked out of my window I saw two parakeets on our feeder. I had never seen them in the wilds of our country before. Apparently they are indigenous to Australia but they have made a nice home for themselves in parts of the Manchester area and even further north. It is supposed that they were originally pets that escaped from captivity around 1970 in the London area and have slowly moved north. They are a colourful bird and a little noisy at times but I fear that they might drive away our native far smaller garden birds. (They also eat a lot!)
After seeing them for a few days running, I have not seen them here since.

Have a good day.
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22 comments

Malik Raoulda said:

Admirable et excellente capture bien partagée.
Surement que les deux perruches étaient de passage.
Bonne et agréable journée dominicale.
9 months ago ( translate )

Jaap van 't Veen said:

Beautiful bird image; they do have lovely colours.
9 months ago

Annemarie said:

Wish you a peaceful Sunday!
9 months ago ( translate )

Günter Klaus said:

Oh,da hattest du aber einen hübschen,ungewöhnlichen Besuch lieber Herbert,aber sie haben dir für deine schöne Aufnahme toll posiert :))

Wünsche noch einen schönen Sonntag,liebe Grüße Güni :))
8 months ago ( translate )

Herb Riddle replied to Günter Klaus:

Yes they were a great surprise. All our other birds avoided the feeder whilst these were on. Even our now regular greater-spotted woodpecker took a second look and avoided the feeder. Maybe they just were on a scouting trip :)

Best Wishes. Herbert
8 months ago

Ulrich John said:

Nice guests, Herb !
8 months ago ( translate )

Stephan Fey said:

I would also be surprised to see something like this in the garden. A great encounter!
8 months ago

tiabunna said:

Well captured. Unfortunately, exotic bird 'escapees' can become a problem - we have many such here also.
8 months ago ( translate )

TOZ said:

A great surprise for you Herb never seen any of them in the dales always have a camera handy nice catch.
All the best Gordon
8 months ago

Herb Riddle replied to TOZ:

As said to Günter above "Yes they were a great surprise. All our other birds avoided the feeder whilst these were on. Even our now regular greater-spotted woodpecker took a second look and avoided the feeder. Maybe they just were on a scouting trip :) " The last time we saw birds like these was when we were in Spain (Costa Blanca). I hear there are many hundreds in some of the Manchester parks. A good subject for my camera though. These were taken very quickly with my middle distant zoom and then using only the small central portion hence the noise. Glad you liked em all the same.

Cheers. Herb
8 months ago

Günter Klaus replied to Herb Riddle:

Es macht sicher Spaß,diese Futterstellen immer zu beobachten und bekommt auch schöne BIlder :))

Wünsche noch einen schönen Abend,liebe Grüße Güni :))
8 months ago ( translate )

Rosalyn Hilborne said:

Oh what a surprise Herb! I'm pleased you took advantage of it and took a picture. I have seen them in London, and that was some time ago. Very well captured. It will be interesting to hear whether you see them again.

Best wishes, Rosa.
8 months ago

Herb Riddle replied to Rosalyn Hilborne:

Hi Rosa. I nearly fell out of my breakfast chair and spilled my porridge when I spied these :) I have never seen such an exotic bird in our garden before. They were most interesting to watch as I ran and grabbed the camera, thankful that the battery was charged. See my comments above to get a fuller story. -Yes, I will try to remember to let you know when i next encounter them.

Cheers. Herb
8 months ago

Keith Burton said:

How lucky to see these in your garden. They seem to becoming more and more common in the UK..........but I've not seen any down south yet! They really are beautiful and stand out well against the background.

A delightful photo Herb..!!

There's an interesting article here: www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/ring-necked-parakeets-in-london-and-uk.html. if you're interested.
8 months ago

Herb Riddle replied to Keith Burton:

I am mighty glad that you liked these two visitors that I now know from your wonderful link, are female ringed parakeets. If they would have been more regular I would have prepared my camera better. The bright greens do stand out against our dark tree vegetation here. It seem that it is only a matter of time before you see them too but as large as a chicken the finches etc have no chance at all when these are near.

Many thanks for that link, of which I have learned a lot about them.

Cheers. Herb
8 months ago
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