A couple of weeks ago, a parakeet arrived in the street where I live, screeching with the frustration of someone who’s taken a wrong turning and noticed too late. Perhaps it had. It looked even more out of place than they do swooping noisily over our allotments.It prompted me to pop down to the plot. Fiddling with the gate lock, I was struck by a waft of horse manure. Looked up to see a load had been dumped for us, warm and steaming. Another sniff and I was back in my childhood days, saddling up Muffin, a Thelwell style pony. Mentally jogging along west country lanes, I walked to my plot. The cosmos were beginning to feel the cold nights, but despite this, at the beginning of November, I came away with a last generous pink and white bunch and another mix of Rudbekias, Sunflowers, Dahlias and Marigolds all grown from seed. Global warming or autumn delight?
I hear it is now legal to shoot parrakeet's as they destroy native birds eggs in their nests and are becoming a real threat. Do people actually go out and shoot them?
ReplyDeleteThis entry reminds me that last year I watched, over a period of several days, a male parakeet systematically strip every single seed from each seed pod on a catalpa tree that I can see from my desk.
ReplyDeleteHe sat on the branch, took the pod in his hand, and then shredded the contents all over the pavement and front gardens whilst eating the precious seed.
It was a good distraction from work!