Ö÷²¥´óÐã

Hi,
Love the item re starlings!
We have had a flock in Epsom a couple of weeks ago absolutely gorging themselves on our neithbours grape vine!
Great to watch.

how lovely to see the starlings, i love them on tuesday morning i had at least 20 at the bottom of my garden fighting over the feeders.....was so nice to watch. too much rain since so haven't seen them since x

I'm in the Merchant Navy and for many years worked in the North Sea, we often had Starlings taking shelter onboard during bad weather sometimes many hundreds. They would roost overnight on the warm flourescent light casings. Many would dis and interestingly birds would perch on the corpses to insulate them from the cold steelwork.

Stewart

I regularly get starlings feeding on the palm tree at the bottom of my garden in Bristol.

Always remember being awestruck by a massive group of starlings flying around Bristol Temple Meads railway station when I was younger too.

During the summer i was working in the garden intermitently using a cordless drill. Only out there during the evening for a couple of hours each day. By the 3rd evening a Starling was sitting on my neighbours roof doing a very good impression of the drill.

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Watching unsprung last evening, we remembered seeing swarms of starlings 4 or 5 years ago in Cyprus.

Last month in Cyprus, from the balcony we heard a huge racket in the orange grove behind the house, but had not seen a swarm.

They sounded like starlings (I remember hearing starlings in the trees in central London years ago).

Are they likely to be starlings?

We only see a few in the garden in England.

Love the starlings,so cheeky. I live right on the coast in west Connemara,Ireland and I have a reed marsh just below the house. I love watching them coming in in the evenings. They all congregate on the electric wires etc,then when they are all present and correct they do their evening performance for a good ten minutes, then to bed!! This morning I was up early enough to watch the morning show. My cat and I sat in amazement as they all seem to come up to the top of the reeds, so gradually the reed bed gets blacker and blacker, then with one big swoosh they are off --- only to the nearest cable wire!!! then off again.However one stayed behind on top of the telegraph post for a couple of minutes,Why do you think this is? Did he just get left behind as he didnt know where he was supposed to be going,OR was he just checking that everyone had left and he was there to pick up any stragglers? A great show last night as have all the rest. Thankyou.

I forgot to add in my last comment that last spring I listened to a starling for over an hour making every mimical sound possible,it was fantastic and to be able to pick out every one just shows how clever these little fellas are.

We had vast flocks of Starlings near RAF Valley on Anglesey in 2008, roosting in reed beds. Many fewer in 2009 and I have been unaware of them this year. Is there any pattern to their choice of roost sites and over what area will they migrate to during the day? When gathering in the evening earlier birds settled on electricity cables and some of these did not join the later flocks during their formation aerobatics. The decision to descend into the reeds seemed to relate to light levels and was accomplished very quickly. Then the noise began and I am grateful to Chris Feare for explaining what this was all about.

Hi Chris,

I have noticed a behavioural pattern with the starlings in our garden:
They wait for the black bird to come down to peck on the feed we give them, then the first starling follows, almost immediately flanked by many more.

The solitary blackbird feels so overwhelmed that, despite the bonanza, stops feeding and leaves the ground to the starlings, that then devour everything, before flying off together.

The starlings' plot goes like this: "You go first to assess the risk, then I follow you, because I now know it is safe. Once I follow, all my friends will follow too, so I will feel even safer and stronger to frighten you off and gobble the lot".
Canny and effective!

I therefore believe that the starlings sing like a blackbird, to take advantage of the blackbird's superior baldness and ability to assess the safety of the patch and use this singing, like a charming nymph.

Awesome footage of none other than THE most wonderful, fantastic, captivating starlings! It was pure joy for me to watch the amazing footage of the Starlings roost at Aberystwyth pier. All praise to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã and the Autumnwatch team. My eternal gratitude - you rounded up the end of this year perfectly .... in style!

I regularly feed a large resident flock of starlings in my garden, some times as large as 50, on a daily basis. Since the starling migrant occupation, I now have approximately 70-100 starlings at first light and at around 3pm (last feed of the day) at my feeding station. I guess they find the mealworms, high energy mixed seed, suet balls, suet pellets and cakes irresistible! So sad that these birds haven't won the hearts of most people, who often find them drab and noisy. I adore every feather on their body! Viva la Starlings!

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have smallholding high above devils bridge, flocks of starlings fly here to feed. we also have red kites flyinh around, when the flocks take off to move to another area of field, the kites fly down and pick off the straglers. have seen them take one only feet from me. could this be a reason for numbers droping?
during the severe gale the flock nested in our small fir coppices, was outside with dogs at about 6-45am when they started to take of, a fantastic sound and felt very honoured.
they say bkites only take dead, but have seen them take a robin peached on a fence post.
tldyyer

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abersywyth pier saturday 19th february 2011 fantastic sights, we stood for roughly half a hour watching the starlings flock, mesmerising everybody with their aerial displays before settling very nosily under the pier. This is the first time that i have experienced this truly wonderful display. out of this world.

i have observed mass gatherings at the Blackpool Leisure beach near the south pier where they completely cover the rails on the big dipper after its stopped for the day. I've no idea where they nest overnight.