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March 6, 2004

Mysterious birds in Pasadena

A few weeks ago, I was sitting outside the house I've been staying in here in Pasadena. I heard a flock of bird coming towards me, and then all at once they were over me, making a racket the likes of which I've never heard. It seemed all the birds were calling to each other at the same time. The calls were coming from all points in the sky directly above me, like some kind of hyper-extended surround sound system. It was extraordinary.

I was curious to know what kinds of birds they were. A few days later I mentioned them to one of my roommates. "Oh, I've seen them. They're clearly parrots." I stared at him in complete disbelief, but he appeared to be quite serious.

Mrs. Conclusion: How do they put budgies down?

Mrs. Premise: It's funny you should ask that. I've been reading a great big book on how to put your budgie down, and evidently you can either hit them with the book, or you can shoot them there, just above the beak.

C: Mrs. Essence flushed hers down the loo.

P: Ooo, that's dangerous, 'cause they breed in the sewers, and eventually you get huge evil-smelling flocks of soiled budgies flying out of people's lavatories infringing their personal freedom.

-- Monty Python

I've heard the birds on and off again over the past few weeks, but this week I finally saw them ... and they are parrots! Green stripes, a bit of red on the wings .. parrots! I googled for "Pasadena Parrots", and confirmed that there are indeed flocks of feral parrots here in Pasadena. A bit of the rain forest here in Southern California ...