UK Bird but which one?

[RedRider]

Spotted in a London garden, magpie-sized with blue and orange colouring. No joy using RSPB bird finder.
Cheers!

 

[RedRider]

Spot on. Thanks.

 

[Crackle]

[QUOTE 2800516, member: 9609"]A Jay[/quote]
Got a few of them around here. Real harsh call.

 

[ianrauk]

Used to have a resident Jay a few summers back.
Beautiful looking birds, but complete and utter thugs of the bird world. It liked to catch house sparrows and rip them apart. Even the magpies and crows used to keep clear of them.

Wish it came back though to keep the pesky parakeet's away.

 

[RedRider]

Aw, I always get a bit excited when I hear a flock of parakeets flying overhead. You must have heard the urban myth that Jimi H released the first breeding pair in London?

 

[Beebo]

Lovely looking birds, I always got very excited when I found one of their small blue and black feathers in the garden.
They do have a bad reputation for stealing eggs from nests.

 

[cosmicbike]

Aw, I always get a bit excited when I hear a flock of parakeets flying overhead. You must have heard the urban myth that Jimi H released the first breeding pair in London?

And I thought it was Shepperton Studios, they escaped from a film set...
Either way, round here they need culling.

 

[ianrauk]

And I thought it was Shepperton Studios, they escaped from a film set...
Either way, round here they need culling.

Everywhere they need culling. They are taking over and are a menace.
They destroyed this years fruit tree crops in my area.

 

[Paulus]

There are now too many of the Green Parakeets around now. I see at least a dozen flying across my local fields every morning and evening. They are a bit of a pest in S.W. london now.

 

[RedRider]

And I thought it was Shepperton Studios, they escaped from a film set...
Either way, round here they need culling.

The joy of urban myths. Pre-internet I heard a good one in the pub about a bloke who opened an unclaimed shipping container down the docks. Inside was a vintage Harley motorbike and hidden underneath the seat was a golden plaque saying the bike was given to Elvis by James Dean.
I tried to follow the story back to the source and spoke to half a dozen people (including the singer in a popular Merseybeat combo). Ultimately, I ran up against a brick wall in the shape of 'Big Paddy', a mysterious garage owner from West derby who kept on avoiding me.
IT wasn't 'till years later I googled the story and found 101versons of the same yarn from all over the world each with their own little variation. Ho hum. Good tale tho.

 

[Glow worm]

And I thought it was Shepperton Studios, they escaped from a film set...
Either way, round here they need culling.

From Wikepedia so must be true! .....

Theories on the London parakeet's origins have been widely debated: the most popular idea being that they escaped from Ealing Studios, West London, during the filming of The African Queen (which was actually made in the Isleworth Studios) in 1951.

 

[Melonfish]

saw a few on the mossland whilst out with the volunteers the other week. also saw a tree creeper! that was epic

 

[Phil Fouracre]

We had just the thing for parkeets, this morning. A beautiful sparrow hawk sat on a branch outside the kitchen window, too scared to move in case it flew away. Seriously predatory, but, still beautiful, guess it was relatively young, to perch six feet from where I was stood and not appear at all nervous. Made my day.

 

[coffeejo]

There's a sparrow hawk who has become a regular visitor to my garden and perches on the fence by the bird feeders, just a few feet away from the living room and bedroom windows. As long as I don't move, it'll sit there until it gets bored - just amazing. Obviously the small birds who also frequent the garden are less impressed but everybody's got to eat.

 

[biggs682]

only ever seen 1