embers

Today I visited Kew Gardens with my friend, who also enjoys photography, and she showed me some new things to try :-) The weather was so changeable and we kept being rained on, but it was so nice to escape for a little while that it didn't matter. The colours were so beautiful that there was no way the cameras could capture them, but we did our best. Pretty trees stood next to pretty trees stood next to pretty trees. And we were joined at the end by a flock of lovely parakeets, although it was too dark by then to take any good photos.

I am a little conflicted on parakeets, as invasive species typically aren't the best news. These parakeets compete with native birds over food and might spread diseases to them. Still, they are so bright and chatty that it's hard not to smile at them. They are the only naturalised parrot species in this country, so that makes them a little special, too. These parakeets tolerated us taking photos of them for a long time, and only occasionally dropped twigs on us.