A group of us at work take a “coke break” every afternoon around 2:00. We walk down past the vending machines and do a lap around the duck ponds before heading back inside to finish the day. It’s our version of the smoke breaks that everyone else takes, since we don’t smoke. We figure we deserve a break too, right?
Last week on coke break, I heard a pretty bird call coming from the tree above us as we were passing. I stopped and looked up, wondering what could have produced the nice sound. It certainly couldn’t have been one of the ugly, annoying grackles that are always loitering around hoping to get some of the scraps people throw to the ducks.
I was surprised to find that the source of the sound was a bright green bird. It looked like something out of the tropics! As we stood under the tree talking about it and wondering what it was, a woman nearby who was also taking a break told us it was a parakeet. (Upon further Google searching, I think it was a monk parakeet.) She said they escaped from a ship in Galveston years ago and now live in the area. There were at least four or five of them flitting between trees, and while I don’t know if the “escaped from a boat” story is true, it sounds cool.
It turns out that the parakeets were not to be my only unique bird sighting of the month. Last night while I was running at the end of the road next to Jose’s apartment, I passed a vacant lot between two million dollar homes and stopped dead in my tracks because there was — and I am so not kidding about this — a PEACOCK standing in the grass.
I couldn’t believe it. A peacock!? Were my eyes deceiving me? I continued running and passed by the same lot again a few minutes later after turning around. Yeah, that still looks like a peacock, I thought. But I had no camera. Not even a cameraphone. Running is the only time I can think of that I don’t usually have a camera with me, and of course that’s when I happened to see a freaking peacock just chilling out in the neighborhood.
So I did what any normal person would do — I ran the 0.75 miles back to Jose’s apartment at a brisk pace and burst breathlessly through the door. “I have to go back out! There’s a peacock at the end of the road and if I don’t get a photo of it, no one will believe me!”
See, my friends? I am always thinking of you.
So I grabbed my purse and jumped into my car. (I was done with the run anyway.) I sped down the street and slowed as I got to the end. I pulled into the cul-de-sac where I’d seen the bird and eased slowly past the empty lot. Nothing. Nada. No peacock. “I’d better check the next cul-de-sac,” I thought, “just in case he’s on the move. I know I didn’t hallucinate a peacock.” And so I turned the corner and there she was! It must have been a girl, because she didn’t have the huge, long tail feathers that the guys do.
She was walking across the road as if nothing was out of the ordinary. As I edged closer, she suddenly jumped and flew a few feet to settle on top of a concrete fence post.
She sat there for a while, so I took a video of her.
And then, as I started to drive away, the movement of my car must have startled her again because she jumped and flew up into a tree! A tree! A peacock in a tree! I didn’t even know they really flew. (I know it’s a bird, but I guess I thought they were more like ostrichs or turkeys and stayed on the ground.)
She’s hard to see, but if you look closely (or look at the larger size on Flickr) you can see her head sticking above the branch in the middle of the photo.
On my run tomorrow, I’m crossing my fingers for a giraffe.
where i bought my house, over in Oak Forest, we had 4 peacocks that roamed our neighborhood. especially in the early evening. they would even come up in my yard, front porch, you name it.
funny.
oh and yes they fly. the ones i speak of apparently had nests (up in the trees) in the mini forest there behind our subdivision for years and years.
I had a part time job with Aldine FD. Across the street, an old man had a “farm” across. When I say street, I mean 525, which is a BUSY 5 lane highway and not even close to the country. The old man didn’t live there, just a couple acres where he kept his horses, two goats, and yes… his peacocks.
Those are possibly the loudest birds I have ever heard. I always thought it was odd that I never saw those birds leave the “farm”. When someone turned into the driveway (often to turn around) the peacocks would go crazy… like a guard dog. Once I walked over there to take a closer look and they went crazy and seemed very territorial, which was confirmed when I talked to the owner. He had them solely for guarding his horses. I always thought it was funny that they never left the farm, with acres of woods behind them and a major highway in front of them. Also funny how they sat on the picket fence all-day and acted like guard dogs.
Weird birds.
That is totally cool! Thanks for the pictures!
Our next door neighbor had peacocks growing up. At 4 years old, they scared me half to death when they ran, but on the other hand, we spent half our time trying to startle them because that’s when they would show off their feathers.
I never thought it was strange at that age that they had peacocks…but you know…that’s not a normal pet to have now that I think about it. Funny how that stuff comes back to me.
In the area where I grew up (and lived until 6 months ago), there was a guy who had peacocks (well, he still has them!). Every now and then, they would be pearched on top of his chain link fence with their tail feathers spread wide for everyone to see. And yes, they were loud!
We have that same (or similar) group of parakeets at our house. I see them fly over every night… we always thought they were wild parrots or something. They really are pretty.
those monk parakeets are more commonly known as quaker parrots. I used to have one as a pet and they even talk. They also have this high pitched shriek that can get annoying, and they flock down at the marina by the hundreds. They are often considered a pest and are actually illegal in some areas. I like them, though, because they are pretty. byron
I went to an all-girls Catholic high school in SW Houston and there was an all-boys school right next door. They had peacocks for whatever reason. A couple were killed while I was there though – one was hit by a car trying to cross Bellaire Blvd. & another fried itself and took out our school’s electricity.