We were sat at a table when this little beaut decided to join us. Quite unconcerned by us. It sat there clearly waiting for us to provide it with some food. I most certainly have obliged if I had been able to, sadly I couldn’t. I think it got annoyed after about 5 minutes and decided to go elsewhere.
Apart from the delight of having it as company even if only for a short period of time, whilst it was here, it maintained an incessant chatter, the range of noises from small low frequency whistles through to loud shouts. It was incredible.
I don’t think I have been so close to a starling, they really are quite beautiful close up. It gives us a huge amount of pleasure to have a bird table which is popular to a large group of them. They turn up every day simply diving on to the table in large numbers, squabbling, showing appalling table manners, throwing seed all over the place.
Luckily, the seed the Starlings throw about mostly gets picked up by the pigeons and the sparrows, along with the occasional magpie. The small birds (I refer to all of them as Sparrows, but I know they aren’t, I need to learn a few of them all line up on the fence and take it in turns to have a go at the hanging feeders. Sometimes one of them will get impatient and will try to knock another of the perch. I could another feeder out – it is there but they are ignoring it. I think I may try a different place for it.
The small birds seem to turn up at the same time as the starlings such that I think they travel around together as a group. They are like little brown rockets, they absolutely whiz in to the fence line, and all line up, usually about six or seven, with a few others, slightly more cautious stay in the bush.
Out on another walk, all these gulls were lined up waiting for food. They seem completely unfazed by my walking within just a few feet of me.
What a delight.
Bills Posts 