Get a few hundred feet above sea level here in Malibu and it's a different world. In the beach flats, it's all about water. Climb into the mountains though, and that endless shining blue becomes a backdrop. Up here at the barn, where I've been spending the evenings lately, the light changes slowly, long sunsets with lots of wild creatures on the move.

This is a small flock - a starter flock? - of Nanday Conures, or black-hooded parakeets, recent arrivals. They've staked out the eucalyptus and coral trees just above the fountain. Acid green feathers with a trailing flash of blue. Chatty, their voices like air raid sirens.