La versión español está después de las dos fotos.
While out walking today, I came upon a flock of pigeons foraging beneath the “palm trees” on the beach (the palms seen here) . Among the pigeons, and soon to take their place almost entirely, were monk parakeets. It’s rare to see them on the ground and so exposed. ‘There must be some good feasting,’ I thought. And then I remembered that yesterday we had winds of up to 90 km an hour (56 mph). A feast must have been blown out of the trees.
A bit later, I stopped at the supermarket and came upon a Christmas display of hams. Hams abound here in Spain. It’s said that, after the expulsion of the Jews and Moors in 1492, eating pork became a way of proving one’s Christian credentials.
Now I know monk parakeets don’t lay green eggs (their eggs are white), but it did make me think.
Mientras caminaba hoy, me encontré con una bandada de palomas debajo de las “palmas” en la playa (las palmas que se ven aquí). Entre las palomas, y pronto para ocupar su lugar casi en su totalidad, había cotorras monjes (cotorras argentinas). Es raro verlos en el suelo y tan expuestos. ‘Debe haber algún buen banquete’, pensé. Y luego recordé que ayer teníamos vientos de hasta 90 km por hora (56 mph). Un banquete debe haber sido expulsado de los árboles.
Un poco más tarde, me detuve en el supermercado y me encontré con una exhibición navideña de jamones. Los jamones abunden aquí en España. Se dice que, después de la expulsión de judíos y moros en 1492, comer carne de cerdo se convirtió en una forma de demostrar las credenciales cristianas.
Sé que los cotorras monjes no ponen huevos verdes (sus huevos son blancos), pero sí me hicieron pensar.
I like the way you think. Oh what those Spanish hams would sell for here in DC.
David:
These aren’t even the best hams. The prices do go up significantly, but still a steal as compared to the States. I’ll share soon another store that has an amazing selection year-round.
Nice to know parakeets and pigeons get along with each other.
Kirk:
Actually, the monk parakeets chased the pigeons away.
Is that the park in Malaga by the waterfront? Hubby and I loved those parakeets, an unexpected surprise in that park
Cheapchick:
That’s a little green space across the street from us right on the beach here in Los Boliches (Fuengirola).
Interesting, the historical use of food to further religious bigotry.
I hope my comment makes it through to your blog today. My comments sometimes disappear into the WordPress aether for some mysterious reason.
Debra:
Moved out of Spam and hoping this will now be resolved! Thanks for your patience… and for your willingness to stick with it.
I was glad you didn’t go for Monk Parakeet and Ham.
Just sayin’.
Bob:
Green Birds and Ham just didn’t have the same ring.
That’s a fancy looking pigeon. Do they all look like that? And of course parakeets (and parrots) always look amazing. They should have green eggs, even if they don’t!
Wilma:
Not all the pigeons look like that. We’ve got the same variety here as many places. And, yeah, I was disappointed to learn monk parakeets laid white eggs.
I like how your mind works! beautiful little creatures they are.
Jim:
My mind is a very strange place. i love the monk parakeets. They’re a problem in some areas — hard on crops, moving native birds out — but I haven’t heard any complaints here in town.
I had a green bacon and egg sammich the other day. I didn’t notice the little green mold spot on the raw meat until I started searching for the reason I was throwing up. Good times. Cute birdies.
Deedles:
Oh shit! THAT would have given Jerry a major panic attack. Hope you’re completely recovered.
mock parakeets eh? pretty birdies.
anne marie:
Hey, don’t mock the monks!
monk parakeets !!!!!!!!!!!!! Its so cool you get those there!
Mistress Maddie:
They’re prolific here. We once saw a huge nesting area just outside of town. Palm trees filled with their multiplex hanging nests! We also have ring-necked parakeets in Southern Spain. Used to see them in Sevilla (they’re beautiful) but haven’t seen them locally.
I’m getting frustrated with your comment function! It is not posting my comments! And I’m doing everything correctly!
Debra:
I’m so sorry. For some reason, WordPress place your comments in a spam folder (which I didn’t even know existed). Still working with WordPress to get the bugs worked out. It is SO frustrating, but I at least CAN get help from WordPress. My problems with Blogspot (and i had even more, including these same ones) were hopeless; no help from Google Blogspot ever. I’m hoping things WILL get better. I’ll look for Spam from now on; but maybe by moving these two messages out of Spam, WordPress will stop giving you such a hard time.
Oh, those tasty Spanish cured hams! We have similar varieties up north here, Bayonne being one of more well known. Of course, they come from Basque country, just over the Spanish border! But they’re made in other places, too. Not to mention those great Italian hams, like Parma. Now I’m hungry.
Walt the Fourth:
Oh, yes, I love the Iberian ham (and Italian, too). So many different types. And if you want that old American sandwich ham standby, just ask for Jamón York. I have Jamón Serrano with my breakfast tostada (when I have a breakfast tostada). I just finished lunch… with chocolates for dessert, but now I’m hungry, too.
Love the birds and ham, goodness that ham looks so good.
When I lived in California you would see Wrens or Sparrows ? with green, red and yellow breast. We were told that Parakeets or parrots escaped into the wild and now we have many different birds.
Parsnip:
I do remember the flocks of escapees in California. The Cherry Headed Conures in San Francisco. were beautiful. And parrot flocks in San Diego were magical to see — many origins and even mixes.