I've been busy with midterms and other stuff lately so I haven't been able to update the blog much lately. During spring break in early March I had to be in Gary Indiana so I worked in a side trip to a nearby Monk Parakeet colony. Monk Parakeets have been established in the Chicago area for many years now and they are now expanding into Indiana. Like many Monk Parakeet colonies in the Chicago area, this one was at a power station, where the wires help keep the birds' bulky stick nest warm so they can survive the winter. As I was walking around the power station I noticed a group of sticks on the structure and soon I saw two Monk Parakeets looking back at me! They got excited and started calling and soon 8 birds flew off and landed in a tree across the street. I ran back to my car to go after them but then four more birds flew in from the opposite direction! I was able to get a few good shots of them here.
After this, I decided to see if I could relocate the birds that had flown across the street to photograph them in a more natural setting. I was able to find all eight birds perched in a small tree where I was able to get several photos I was very happy with.
This was definitely a very worthwhile detour and raised my life list up to 393.
James -- the pictures of these Monk Parakeets are gorgeous! love them.
ReplyDeleteWondering if you could drop me a quick email at maryanne.macleod@macombdaily.com when you get a second. I am creating a master list of all our community bloggers for administrative purposes and upcoming possible workshops and wanted to put your email address and contact phone number on file.
Warmly,
Maryanne MacLeod
Macomb Daily Community Engagement Editor