A few of the birds which went missing from Marlay Park, Rathfarnham in March
In March.
At Marlay Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Several rare exotic birds from the park’s aviary went missing during the snowfall.
Further to this…
Cónal Thomas, in the (newly overhauled) Dublin Inquirer, writes:
Des King’s diamond doves, New Zealand kākārikis and budgerigars are still missing.
They have been since March, when heavy snowfall covered the aviary in Marlay Park, and some of it collapsed. Around twenty-four exotic birds escaped.
The enclosure was buried under 10 or 15 inches of snow. So it’s little surprise it caved in, says King, who has been aviary watchman there since 2013.
“The snow blew up in drifts onto the roof,” he says.
In the last six months, he has tracked down 10 of the birds and brought them home, with the public’s help. More than half of those that escaped are still on the loose, though…
Six Months After the Snow, Exotic Birds Are Still Missing from Marlay Park (The Dublin Inquirer)
Pic: Rathfarnham Gardening Club (Facebook)
I would have thought getting ten back out of twenty-four was rather good going, once the sparrowhawks and domestic cats have taken their share.
Maybe in a quarter of a century Dublin will have its own exotic bird population, like the London parakeets that are popularly supposed to be descendants of escapees from Isleworth Studios during the filming of The African Queen.