Parrots in the South of England

[m0ssy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Rose-ringed_Parak...

There was a topic a few months ago with a photo about a parrot that had been spotted and I posted they are a pain in the arse, try having a few 000 of the bds in the tree at the end of your garden etc..

Well an upadate.....

Got rid of them from the tree around the new year. At twighlight when they all returned to the tree to make noise, sleep and st over my fence, shed, pathway and grass I would stand under the tree clapping my hands loudly until they all flew to a tree the other side of the field. This routine was kept up for a few weeks, and the parakeets did eventually learn it was not worth the hassle to go to my particular tree. job done sort of.... could still hear them a bit but with it being winter, double glazing shut, noise was a minimum.

Then came New Years Eve and a fair few friends over for a meal and a fire work display, we all brought a whole load of rockets and cakes, enough to last a good 45 mins

Anyway the point, did not see any of the parakeets anywhere in the field for months and months after that night, and thought I had got rid of them altogether

Until around 8 weeks ago ... At twighlight they now all go to trees on the other side of the field around 200m away but they are 000's of the fkers. All they do is call to each other, a very ear piercing shrill, so when sat in the garden after work I no longer get the pleasant call of the sparrow or thrush, a wave from the robin who follows me about when gardening, or the lovely silence in the garden apart from the wind through the trees.

But the worst part is 0500 each morning. They fly to my tree (obviously knowing I am in bed) and call their mates on the other side of the field, at 0500! it has woken me up each morning now for 6 - 8 weeks and it is now getting to a point where there is not enough coffee available to keep me awake in the day!

And to top it all off.... I had a day off yesterday, popped to the mooring for a quiet relaxing day, and they were there too! calling to each other from each side of the river (not as many, only a 100 or so I could spot) but bloody hell! they are everywhere!

My question is can the council or government do some kind of Cull? they are not good for our natural species of birds as are easliy the most dominent species of bird out there due to numbers.

Shall I get some more fireworks?

Shall I buy a Hawk to live in my tree? (mind you, if there is safety in numbers it will go hungry)



Ohh btw my area is Epsom and mooring is Kingston to give you an idea of location of the blighters

[croyde]

Can't you teach 'em to speak.

[m0ssy]

31,000 in South-East and numbers increasing by 23% each year.

Government needs to Cull


http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13524396

[toast boy]

I used to live in Kingston/Surbiton and was amazed at the number of parrots knocking about. I've never seen them anywhere else in the country. They do seem to outnumber pretty much everything else down there, apart from pigeons. I'm surprised they're so successful considering it's quite different from their natural environment.

[MOTORVATOR]

Grumpy old sod. You seem to be focussing on the negatives here rather than the benefits.

I can't hear the thrush, I can't hear the sparrows. Blah Blah Blah.








Can you still hear the wife?

[m0ssy]

MOTORVATOR said:

Grumpy old sod. You seem to be focussing on the negatives here rather than the benefits.

I can't hear the thrush, I can't hear the sparrows. Blah Blah Blah.








Can you still hear the wife?

Oi! what are you doing here! shouldn't you be on Boats, Planes & Trains?

Can't hear the missus at the mooring, just those pesky birds!

[Mubby]

toast boy said:

I used to live in Kingston/Surbiton and was amazed at the number of parrots knocking about. I've never seen them anywhere else in the country. They do seem to outnumber pretty much everything else down there, apart from pigeons. I'm surprised they're so successful considering it's quite different from their natural environment.

My ex lived in Kingston when he went to Uni, there were hundreds of green parrots where he lived!

[MOTORVATOR]

m0ssy said:

Oi! what are you doing here! shouldn't you be on Boats, Planes & Trains?

Stalking.

m0ssy said:

Can't hear the missus at the mooring, just those pesky birds!

See? Don't you feel better now you've looked at the positives.

[Working class]

Hang on, is this a wind up? Actual parrots flying around like normal birds?!

Where the hell did they come from originally??

[MOTORVATOR]

Working class said:

Hang on, is this a wind up? Actual parrots flying around like normal birds?!

Where the hell did they come from originally??

It all started back in Roman days.

Some bright gladiator thought that it would be a good idea to bring some of these cheeky sods back from the indian one night after a curry or something.

All a good idea at the time as he thought they'd make an ideal gift for the women back home who would afford him plenty of rumpy in return.

What he failed to realise was that whilst away again the parakeets had to endure mind numbing sessions of listening to these women babbling nonsense. They became indoctrinated themselves into muttering words that sounded like intelligence but when analysed was actually meaningless drivel. Mimickery of womens you see, and very good at it they were too to get that level of detail correct.

Anyway many years passed and culture changed so the men didn't have to go so far for their indians anymore as a few had opened up a lot closer to home. With more time at home the men were pressed to seek verbal engagement as a form of entertainment (no telly back then) and found the womens wanting when it came to interesting communication. Of course after a while it was noted that one could have just the same level of conversation with the parakeet sat in a cage as 'er indoors, with the added benefit that it was not as shrill a sound and therefore could be carried on for longer periods.

Now this was a fatal mistake as the parakeets starting picking up intelligence from the men. It is not known why this never happened with the women but research indicates it has something to do with the way woman cannot use their ears and mouth at the same time whereas the parakeet can.

Moving on a number of years the men started to lose interest in the parakeets due to the invention of football and telly. The parakeets found themselves talking to themselves and the only way they could be shut up was to leave the telly on. As an aside, this is another interesting difference between women and parakeets, the parakeets don't talk over the telly when something interesting is on.

Anyway back to the plot. A company called Aardman Animations run by Nick Park came on the scene and animated a number of short films featuring a thick mancunian and a clever dog. This turned out to be so real to life as to be taken up by the nation as more of a soap opera than the comedic short film that it was meant to be and therefore was on the telly every weekday night.

Well the parakeets with their intelligence gained from men also watched these shows taking it all in.

Nick Park, running out of ideas of what to do with a thick mancunian and a clever dog ( a bit like the soap operas ) decided to come up with a feature length film based upon the all time classic involving Steve Mcqueen. To try and make the audience understand that it wasn't actually real life like the soaps he decided to cast the characters as birds.

Big Mistake. Obviously the parakeets didn't see that one coming and took the film somewhat literally. Thinking they were all going to made into parakeet pie they got together and organised a mass escape.

Once out they weren't really sure what to do with themselves as they had all been hand reared and had no experience of life on the outside. Luckily for them they met up with some pigeons who taught them everything there is to know about shagging, stting and generally being a nuisance.

It has never been verified where the first meet of parakeets took place although it has for some time been suspected that they utilise a particular tree in Epsom to get together and make their next plans.

As for whose fault it all is well you could blame the original gladiators, Nick Park or even the pigeons, but I would say prattling womens is the main cause.

I think.

[doodles19]

Working class said:

Hang on, is this a wind up? Actual parrots flying around like normal birds?!

Where the hell did they come from originally??

There is an aviary in a park fairly close to where I grew up.

I've always been told that the Parakeets originated from this aviary, escaping/released at some point or other. Anyway apparently its been local knowledge/news ever since that the Parakeets have somehow either adapted to live in UK conditions or were just hardy enough to survive it with numbers of the birds steadily increasing since then.

Disclaimer: As with anything you heard/were told when you were young and you can't quite remember where it came from, it could be utter bks .


Edit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Rose-ringed_Parak... Perhaps I am right after all!

Edited by doodles19 on Friday 1st July 03:57

Edited by doodles19 on Friday 1st July 03:59

[Big_Kahuna]

m0ssy said:

They fly to my tree (obviously knowing I am in bed) and call their mates on the other side of the field

Have you tried Banks's?

http://www.bankssbeer.co.uk/

[Rugbyman]

Have you seen the advert at the top of this thread ....its perfect

'a million voices for nature' join the RSPB

[m0ssy]

MOTORVATOR said:

It all started back in Roman days.......

Bloody hell K, one to many G&T's?

[MOTORVATOR]

m0ssy said:

MOTORVATOR said:

It all started back in Roman days.......

Bloody hell K, one to many G&T's?

One?

[koolchris99]

Cat?
Hawk?

Air rifle?
Shotgun?

Cut the tree down?

Move?

(hundreds of the fkers in chiswick)