So Arden Katz was giving me one of his fishing reports a month or so ago and got sidetracked describing some raucous bright birds he sees on his daily walks.

And I said, a colony of monk parakeets must be setting up.

Katz finally took some photographs of the birds around Touhy and McCormick. Monk parakeets have set up colonies at odd places all over the city and suburbs.

I vividly remember the first time I encountered them. It was 20 or so years ago. I was practicing my golf swing at Jackson Park driving range when these odd birds started making an outrageous racket behind me.

Six years ago Katherine Millet wrote a solid background story on the Chicago monk parakeets for Chicago Wilderness Magazine.