walker said:
Laurence, thats the ones I saw. 3 of them together
if you're ever in Richmond Park you'll see loads of them... it's one of the areas where they first bred and settled.
rumour has it they either came from...
a) a film set in shepperton studios. some escaped and managed to survive.
they were the pets of Jimi Hendrix and were released when he died, they then managed to settle and breed.
they settled in the escarpment between richmond and ham where the weather isn't as cold. after a few years they had adapted to the weather (although the species are from the Himalayan foothills of India, so should be used to a bit of cold). there are now thousands of them across southern england and have even been sighted in scotland. they prefer wooded areas, so southern england is ideal (along with the weather). there's a massive roost of them in Esher and there have been calls to cull them - although there is no evidence they have caused any problems with native species.
they make a bit of a din, but are lovely looking birds. visitors to the area, especially richmond park, think they've seen something rare, but to us natives they're now part of everyday life.