Ring-necked Parakeets (c) The Guardian

This Birding Life: the Best of the Guardian's Birdwatch by Stephen Moss is published by Aurum Press, priced £12.99
ISBN: 1845131800

Parakeets flee the scrum
Stephen Moss
Wednesday October 18, 2006
The Guardian

Lost: 6,000 parakeets. If found, please contact Esher rugby club. It shouldn't really be possible for thousands of noisy, green birds to vanish into thin air, but sometime earlier this month they did so. Every evening for the past decade, flocks of ring-necked parakeets have gathered to roost for the night in poplar trees next to a rugby pitch in the Surrey suburbs. Then, a couple of weeks ago, staff at the club noticed something odd: they could no longer hear the characteristic high-pitched screeching of the birds. They had, quite simply, disappeared.

... the recent population surge may explain the parakeets' vanishing act. In their native India, when roosts reach a critical mass they break up, with the birds seeking new places to spend the night. So if you have noticed a few thousand parakeets arriving each evening near you, please get in touch with Esher rugby club - they would like to know that their birds have gone to a good home.

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See also:
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,1875410,00.html

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/family/story/0,,1867763,00.html

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Charles Darwin texts online

This project has been getting plenty of publicity on BBC Radio, The Guardian, PlanetScience etc:

"the largest collection of Darwin's writings ever assembled"

http://darwin-online.org.uk/

The complete work includes manuscripts
http://darwin-online.org.uk/contents.html#manuscripts

Beagle field notebooks from Down House (microfilmed in 1969)
http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Chancellor_fieldNotebooks.html

See also:
http://darwin-online.org.uk/contents.html

... publications in journals
http://darwin-online.org.uk/contents.html#periodicals

http://darwin-online.org.uk/acknowledgements.html

"MANY institutions, organizations and individuals have generously contributed to Darwin Online and its pilot website The writings of Charles Darwin on the web (2002-6). It is a particular pleasure to acknowledge their support, assistance and permissions. Darwin Online simply could not otherwise exist. The Arts and Humanities Research Council has generously provided the primary funding, for three years, to expand the pilot website. The Charles Darwin Trust has provided funds to cover web server costs. Earlier start-up funding was provided, in the form of John van Wyhe's research expenses, by The National University of Singapore and the Open University."