News and Updates
February 8, 2008
I posted a new photo of the flock to the Gallery.
December 12, 2007
I saw Olive the mitred conure today. I didn't know whether she was still alive or not. She's been in the flock since 1995. I got a good photograph of her.
December 3, 2007
I'm fairly certain I spotted Alex in a tree today with the flock. He looks like he's doing fine.
December 2, 2007
Alex seems perfect today. When the flock came by I put him out in a cage, and he took off as soon as I opened the door. He flew well.
December 1, 2007
Alex has improved swiftly. I'm fairly certain he simply hit a window. I'm going to give him a day of food and rest and then see if he's releasable tomorrow.
November 30, 2007
Somebody working in the neighborhood found a baby parrot on the ground and brought him to me. The baby couldn't walk and was groggy. I took him in and called someone at Mickaboo. It was late, so she told me to keep an eye on him until tomorrow. The guy who found him was named Alex, and that shall be the parrot's name.
August 23, 2007
I added an incredible new photograph to the Photo Gallery.
Some of the parrots were sighted in the town of Brisbane, which is about eight miles south--as the parrot flies--of Telegraph Hill. They have been expanding their territory farther south every year. Here is a photo.
July 16, 2007
As you may know, I spearheaded an effort to get the city of San Francisco to pass an ordinance banning the feeding of the wild parrots in all city parks. Now that the law is in effect, I have an essay up explaining my position. Click here to read it.
June 5, 2007
A big thank you to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, especially to supervisors Aaron Peskin and Bevan Dufty, for their second 10-1 vote today banning the feeding of the wild parrot flock in city-owned parks.
May 22, 2007
Today the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the ban on feeding the parrots in city parks. The vote was 10-1. There are people--some well-meaning, others not--who have been putting the parrot flock in danger, which is the reason I support this ordinance. I will post here in the near future an essay that will detail the story, the reasons for the law, and the people involved. For complex reasons, it's a story that I've been unable to tell up until now. It's important to understand that the birds do not need the extra food. They can take care of themselves. They have always been able to.
December 12, 2006
I added a new photo (Juvenile Out On A Limb) to the gallery.
Because of the time obligations involved in writing a book I've been neglecting the web site. I hope to change that eventually. This is a lifelong occupation. Creativity, I mean.
November 7, 2006
Linda Fairchild Contemporary Art is selling some of my photographs of the flock. If you're interested in purchasing photos, click here.
I recently received some photographs that suggest that the blue-crowned conure I called Catherine was out in the "wild" as early as 1988, although she did not join up with Connor and the cherry heads until late 1990 or early 1991. More on this in the near future.
September 6, 2006
This year's fledge is underway. I saw the first babies of the year today.
August 23, 2006
I finally posted the other two parts of the four part series of diary entries for the chapter called "Everything Changes" in my book The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. (See July 14.)
August 5, 2006
At 11:00 am I had a pleasant surprise: Olive, the flock's sole mitred conure, and her mate Pushkin showed up outside my door with a small group of others. Olive barked out a command that I come out to feed. I haven't seen her in months. She's been in the nest, and I haven't been feeding anyway. Others I saw and recognized included one of the feather pluckers, Scrapper, Wendell, Levon, Natalie, and Pegleg. I was very happy to see Pegleg, who is missing all the toes on one foot, but has surived that way for years. She's been on the nest as well.
July 14, 2006
Added the first two parts of a four part series of diary entries that form the raw material for the chapter in my book called "Everything Changes." The other two parts will go up in two weeks when I get back from a writers retreat.
July 3, 2006
An update on what I'm doing: Most of my time is spent working on my new book about my days on the Streets of San Francisco. But when I can I do put time into these parrot pages. My current project in that regard is the editing and formatting of the 35 pages of diary that formed the basis of the chapter in The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill called "Everything Changes." All diary entries will be in the InDepth section of the web site. Later this summer I'm going to start putting up Bios of the birds. First up: Connor.
July 1, 2006
Added a new photo to the photo gallery--a shot of one of the flock's two feather pluckers.
May 23, 2006
I've added the original diary entries that were the basis for the chapter called "Dogen" in my book The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.
I've re-posted most of the InDepth section from the old web site. And I've added something new to it. I'm going to start posting extensive chunks of the diary I used to write the book. The first posting is the material that forms the basis of the second half of the chapter called "Mandela."
April 19, 2006
Added the beginnings of a photo gallery.