This is a picture of the power line pole out of my patio window in the back of the house. Up on this pole for at least a few years now, there has been a small but growing colony of Monk Parakeets returning each spring to nest. (They seem to me to be seasonal at this nesting site because I only see them come to my feeder in spring, summer and fall. I will continue to study this colony out of my patio window to gather more information to be sure. Articles I have read recently about the slow population rise of Monk Parakeets in this area in the last 30 years or so indicate they may be year round residents.) At one given time, I have seen anywhere from 1 to 8 Parakeets together in the same place.

In this picture, I have circled the areas on the metal support frame on top of the pole in red, blue, and green where the various parrot couples of the colony have built nests. It might be difficult to see in the picture, but it all started with the red circled nest filling only the right corner of the metal support frame just a couple of years ago. Now that same nest has been built up to span almost the entire frame member across the rear of the support frame! Newer nests have been built in the green and blue circled areas. The pictures through the telescope in the gallery below are of the nest circled in blue.

Please forgive the less than desireable quality of the gallery pictures, as I am using my son's cheap telescope and I am having to aim and hold our digital camera in just the right position over the eye lens to get the pictures. I am using the standard lens in these pictures, but I plan to try the wide angle lens which has shorter zoom but will be able to take in a wider scope than just one nest like this lens. I'm really just experimenting with what I have around the house. Believe it or not, It took me about 6 hours on a Sunday to be patient enough and just sit at the patio door looking and looking to see when the birds were visible in order to get these pictures!

Of course in doing all of this, one of the things I'm looking for is young, but I have not been able to spot any yet. I'll keep trying. Since the colony is growing, I figure my chances to spot some baby parakeets get better and better as more time passes! Enjoy the gallery and check back for updates!

SA400122a (Large)	SA400123a (Large)	SA400124a (Large)	SA400125a (Large)	SA400130a (Large)
SA400131a (Large)	Full Parakeet Moon	SA400133a (Large)	SA400134a (Large)	SA400135a (Large)

As you can see in the first 3 pictures, the parrots enter the nest from the bottom mostly. I think they put all of the nesting material on top to serve as a roof of sorts.

Created with Easy Gallery Generator - EGG V2.1 - LATSOMEP