[helenol]

I was out in the garden, when I heard the familiar sound of weird whistle type noises. Up in the tree, I spotted them.

They're back. As if on cue - the same time as last year, my garden has just been invaded by a huge flock of starlings. The garden has been a place of "tranquility and gentle comings and goings" of the smaller birds, this past few months, until now.

In the space of about 10 minutes they have almost demolished 2 large fatballs that have been hanging for the tits/woodpecker etc.

Ah well, my purse is going to be empty much more frequently than the past few months....

[scampo]

Originally Posted by helenol

I was out in the garden, when I heard the familiar sound of weird whistle type noises. Up in the tree, I spotted them.

They're back. As if on cue - the same time as last year, my garden has just been invaded by a huge flock of starlings. The garden has been a place of "tranquility and gentle comings and goings" of the smaller birds, this past few months, until now.

In the space of about 10 minutes they have almost demolished 2 large fatballs that have been hanging for the tits/woodpecker etc.

Ah well, my purse is going to be empty much more frequently than the past few months....

They seem to have had a very successful breeding year, Helen. We've had a large flock of perhaps a couple of hundred birds flying around ever since the elderberries ripened a month or so ago. I've never seen such a large local flock in years - but it pales into insignificance compared to one I read of, in the seventies I think, that descended on Leicester's Abbey Park - I recall a figure of a million birds being mentioned in the local paper and there was much talk of the need for a cull because of the damage caused by thier droppings.

I wonder if the numbers of starlings has fallen since that time - it seems to me it must have?

[helenol]

Yes, I have read they are declining in numbers.

I admit I find them a royal pain in the backside; having said that, they are beautiful birds, and most amusing to watch when bathing.

when the juveniles were around, I made a sound recording in the garden of them. In the background were the sounds of blackbirds/robins etc, but the noise of them all together was just overwhelming.

I plan on getting out there again soon with hubby's DAT machine etc and doing some more recordings.

[DoveKeeper]

We too have starlings.. They show up here in early sping and put a stop to the suit that we are feeding the piar of downy woodpeckers with. They hang around for about a month and become scarce for the summer.. Now they return with some interesting plumage... The feathers are much lighter and the spots seem to be larger more brilliant. When we first noticed the pre-winter color transition it was hard for us to recognize them as starlings. Now we expect it and they are back to their almost black plumage.

[Tero]

Starlings spring and fall, not so much summer. They may be in rural areas. I was able to spot some juveniles as more brown even in Nov.

[pauco]

Hi Helen.
not been doing a bit of starling rustling have you!!
our flocks of these comics have more than halved
in the last few weeks, even the blackbirds are down, still the best in numbers are the house sparrows. nice to have these little chaps about.
bert.

[helenol]

Bert, if you wish, I can put up a sign in the garden diverting them to your place!

[pauco]

Please do, how far as the starling flies give us chance to save, as you say they get through it!!!

[helenol]

they get through it!!!

They demolish and devour it more like!

[pduxon]

They seem to be avoiding the garden although they are about.

If I stick a fatball up round my mums they soon appear!!

I still can't make my mind up about Starlings......

[helenol]

Pete, as I said, a royal pain in the backside. During the breeding season I was tearing my hair out. No matter where I put the mealworms for the robins etc, the starlings got to them. Believe me, they are capable of squeezing through the tiniest nook and cranny. Ask Elizabeth, she received some pretty desperate emails from me. I was almost on the verge of going out with with a shotgun!!!

BUT....after observing their behaviour, especially when I saw what fantastic parents they were to the juveniles that came along, I mellowed somewhat.

I also thought....."Who am I to decide which bird can take a mealworm for its young in the nest. This especially came to mind the day a juv was taken by a (I assume) a sparrowhawk. The spawk accidently dropped the juv on my patio, resulting in a loud thud and me finding it with blood pouring from its mouth. I looked at the poor little bugger, just a couple of months old and thought to myself; how selfish of me to try and deny you a share of the food I put out"

The one consolation is that they tend to "go to bed" earlier than the other birds. Therefore I can nip out and put some food down for the smaller birds.

So, yes, they used to annoy me, but not anymore. They are beautiful and bold birds.

Maybe I'm mellowing as time goes by......

[Bluetail]

I used to curse them until I moved to my present house. We just don't get Starlings here and I miss them.

Jason

[pduxon]

Originally Posted by helenol

Believe me, they are capable of squeezing through the tiniest nook and cranny. Ask Elizabeth, she received some pretty desperate emails from me. I was almost on the verge of going out with with a shotgun!!!

So, yes, they used to annoy me, but not anymore. They are beautiful and bold birds.

Maybe I'm mellowing as time goes by......

Well they are quite comical to watch, my mum has a habit of throwing scraps on the lawn sunday morning and suddenly from nowhere the local "bovver boys" turn up. Incidentally that was how we first noticed how many Sparrows we had lost when not one showed up to race the Starlings. Now there are a few Spadgers to try there luck.

[Bill@dwp]

I usually get a good number at this time of year and I have seen al few around but nothing like the numbers I used to have desending on the garden. But for me there could be a couple of factors, one is that a couple of really huge pines at the back of our house have been pruned back and they have used this in the past as a roost. Secondly we have a couple of trees in the front of the house which the starlings loved. They usually were covered in red berries but this year there has hardly been any, probably due to the dry weather, so a reduction in the starlings. I miss the large roosts but not the purple poo!!!
I was travelling over the Runcorn Bridge last Monday at dusk and they get some spectacular roosts there, they can have thousands of birds swirling together. I only saw probably a hundred and that was pretty good. St Helens town centre has some good roosts as well, the noise is incredible some nights.

[alanhill]

I imagine that the recent huge increase in starling numbers is due to our resident starlings being joined by hundreds of thousands migrating from Europe, particularly from Scandinavia.

Alan Hill

[Bluetail]

Yes. Numbers are swelled in winter by immigrants - but not so much as they used to be. winter flocks in Plymouth are way down on what they used to be ten years ago.

Jason