Category Archives: Birds & Wildlife

Birds & Wildlife

PARAKEETS ON THE SCHUYLKILL?

#Philadelphia #Wildlife

Last year, specifically November 30th, 2023, while bicycling on the Schuylkill River Trail, we noticed several tropical parakeets in the vicinity of the old railroad bridge just west of the Norristown Train Station. I never posted the sighting, because I couldn’t get a good picture, but this is what I had captured on my iPhone at the time last year—

November 30 2023 along the Schuylkill River Trail (converted old railroad bridge of the trail just west of the Norristown Train Station)

We were biking again this past week, and incredibly, we saw another parakeet in the same general vicinity of the last sightings, just a bit further west along the trail—

Tuesday, Sept 24th 2024, slightly further west from the converted train bridge on the Schuylkill River Trail

Here is a video of the same sighting this week—

Tuesday, Sept 24th 2024, slightly further west from the converted train bridge on the Schuylkill River Trail

I bike on the trail quite a bit. This is the second year seeing parakeet(s) in the Fall, on this trail. I haven’t noticed these birds any other times of the year.

Perhaps we’re seeing a trend that has occurred in cities in Europe. Check this story out. And this story says that escaped pet parakeets have naturalized in many cities in the US. Who knew?

Birds & Wildlife

College of Cardinals

#birds #bird photos #Northern Cardinal

About one half hour before sunset, if I’m home, I like to treat the cardinals in my neck of the woods to safflower seed. Anticipating the ‘feast’, they line up in the trees, waiting for me to put clumps of seeds on the railings of our deck.

While not able to capture on camera the shear large number of birds that come out for the occasion, today I counted about 15 taking part.

I call it a meeting of the “College of Cardinals”. It’s interesting— the male cardinals take over first and then the females come by to eat afterwards.

“The College of Cardinals”
Northern Cardinals as seen from our window