While we were in London, on the lookout for birds in Kew Gardens and Richmond Park, there was a surprising little bird who kept turning up. If you live in London you will no doubt be familiar with the green parakeets who have freakily bred and prospered in the unlikely city setting, but to a visitor it is still a treat.
We left the balcony door open in our hotel room because of the heat and when we woke up, it was like waking up in the middle of a rainforest. All we could see through the door were trees and we could hear the squawk of the parakeets, who would occasionally fly into sight.
Though they are pretty and exotic-looking, I can imagine their loud insistent squawking might get annoying for some people, if there were some living nearby, and I can imagine their noise might have an effect similar in annoyance to the seagulls of Brighton and Dover. The parakeets have a seagull-like aggression. They aren't shy. They think they own the place. Makes you think about how passive and quiet pigeons are, even though there are so many of them…
But who knows, maybe my outsider's interpretation of the parakeet's city status is inaccurate? However I took the above photo myself, at the WWT centre in Barnes, so I get some integrity points.
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