THE Traveler: Mark Ryan of Minneapolis.
Bird's eye view of the parakeets of London
March 8, 2018 at 11:16PM
The scene: A green parakeet, or Psittacula krameri, zeros in on a handful of bird seed. "Seven more of the wild, ring-necked parakeets can be spotted lurking in the tree behind it. They were all over the place, looking for handouts," Ryan wrote in an e-mail.
More details: Ryan and his wife, Marge, and son, Jake, were strolling in London's famous Hyde Park when Marge noticed groups of people with birds flitting about them inside the park's Kensington Gardens. Ryan wrote, "As we neared to investigate, we noticed several bright green birds among the usual pigeons. They were all over the place, perching on everyone, looking for handouts. Someone was kind enough to share some bird seed with us so we could partake in the fun. … They would land on your hand, and if there was another bird already there, they'd land on your head, or shoulders and wait their turn. … We just happened upon them, but the parakeets were one of the highlights of our first trip to England. We later read that their origin is somewhat of a mystery."
Equipment: Ryan used an iPhone 6 to capture the bird's beak in sharp focus and its wings blurred by flight.
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about the writer
Sin City attempts to lure new visitors with multisensory, interactive attractions, from life-size computer games to flying like a bird.
