For the birds - Thousands spent rescuing area man who climbed tree after his bird

William Hart had climbed a tall tree to get his $2,000 cockatoo back and then had dozens of people involved in rescue attempts. Finally a Galveston Coast Guard helicopter got him at about a cost of $10,000. Since it was a genuine rescue only taxpayers will be charged. Dos Centavos doesn't like that. Live and let live I say. I also wouldn't complain if a neighbor had chickens.

Speaking of birds, I saw a pair of finches the other day. They looked related to purple finches but more scarlet colored on the male head and more brown on the body. There is a west coast finch, Cassin's Finch, they look identical to but what are they doing here? It has been pointed out that the House Finch also has a variety of red shades.

And how do you explain my brother-in-law seeing five parrots fly into our yard? They have flocks down in the Valley but this is the first I've heard of up here. Or maybe not so unusual, in searching I find a house for sale in San Leon that talks about wild parrots flying over every morning. That is pretty close, less than 20 miles from here. Update, those appear to be Monk Parakeets. That is a large variety of parakeet now establishing itself in the United States. It could become an agricultural pest. San Leon has a number of group nesting sites, at bottom of the page. The monk parakeet is now found all over Texas.

Tags: birds, Houston, LaPorte