Some recent pictures of the Ring-necked parakeets in our garden
Originally from Africa and southern Asia and kept as caged birds, some Rose-ringed Parakeets (aka Ring-necked Parakeets) escaped and by the 1970s started breeding in south-eastern England. One unlikely story says that a small number escaped from Isleworth Studios in 1951 during the making of ‘The African Queen’, another is that Jimi Hendrix, the rock musician, released them to ‘bring some psychedelic colour to London’s skyline – The total UK population is estimated at 30,000 birds. The largest roost was at Esher, Surrey which held up to 7000 birds, but I was recently told that the roost site had been destroyed by a housing development, so I dont know what has happened to the roost. My local roost at Hither Green is estimated at 5-6000 birds.
Pete's Favourite Things 