There have been masses of birds and butterflies in the garden this week. We always have loads of sparrows living in the hedges around the garden and also quite a few of these.................
Starlings! They are so funny to watch as they swoop down in gangs and take over the feeders usually heading for the fat balls first but they'll take anything and everything.
The young starlings all seem to keep together and you can see the difference between the first brood and second brood youngsters as the first brooders begin to take on their darker, spotty and more adult plumage which doesn't yet have that glossy almost iridescent purply-black tone that a fully grown adult starling's plumage has.
We were watching one of the second brood starlings trying to teach itself to feed from the hanging bird feeders
It sat on a branch for ages watching the sparrows feed by hanging from the feeders and then saw how the blackbirds got to the food by standing on a lower branch and reaching up to the feeder. It decided to try that way first and then took the plunge and launched itself at the feeder and clung on, sparrow like, to take its reward.
The noise that a group of young starlings makes is quite loud and raucous a constant twitter and cackle as they attack the bird feeders taking it in turns but not always agreeing on who is next and then the squabbling starts. No matter how much they bicker amongst themselves they still stick together and fly around in large groups and it is very rare to see a lone starling. I've seen them wheeling around in the sky in quite large numbers in the late evening but have never yet seen one of those mass displays of flight known as a murmuration. Now that would really be something!
How lovely to see all the birds together! I saw a murmuration once a few years back. It was a wonderful sight. Do you know if the swifts have gone now? They used to come and swoop over our garden on summer evenings but I don't recall seeing them from a while. x
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the swifts. I certainly haven't seen many this year. Apparently according to BBC Countryfile because of the wet early summer there aren't the insects for them to eat so they are going back to Africa earlier than usual:)
DeleteNo starlings in the garden here, so I envy you yours!
ReplyDeleteSorry you have no starlings. I know that their numbers are declining across the UK and that is a shame as they are interesting birds. I call them the 'bully boys' when they all descend but they are quite amazing really:)
DeleteLovely close-ups of the starlings and interesting information about the plumage at different stages of development. There are masses of sparrows
ReplyDeleteflying around in the cover of the bushes and trees in the neighbour's huge 'wilderness garden' beyond our cedar hedge where they must have built their nests. They are very lively and entertaining.
The sparrows do love the hedges and bushes around gardens as it gives them cover - I think we have a lot in our garden as we, and next door, are the only gardens with hedges - nearly everyone else had replaced their hedges with fences or walls:)
DeleteI would sit and watch birds any day rather than sit in front of the tv!
ReplyDeleteYou're so blessed to have such viewing pleasure!
I hope you have a great weekend,
Tammy
Yes, I think sometimes the birds are far more entertaining that a lot of the programmes on TV. I hope you too are having a great weekend:)
DeleteOh they are wonderful birds. My mum used to hate it when they arrived in our garden because she said they were thugs who bullied the smaller birds. But I love them. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteThis made me smile as I always call the starlings 'bully boys' when they arrive en masse but like you I love them as they are so funny and interesting:)
DeleteI love Starlings, but we don't have many here, now. I'm glad they're successfully raising young where you are. I used to watch a small murmuration on winter evenings from an office I worked in years ago. It was fascinating, and I'd love to watch one of the very large murmurations in the sky.
ReplyDeleteI think the starlings when you really look at them are so beautiful with their adult, glossy multi-couloured feathers. The little ones are just funny to watch. I'd dearly love to see one of those large murmurations:)
DeleteWhere I live starlings are considered a bit of a nuisance. They can be quite nasty to the local songbirds. I hope the UK version is a bit friendlier! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Krisite, they are considered a bit of a nuisance here too at times, they do tend to pinch the food intended for the smaller garden birds but they tend to hold their own especially the sparrows, finches and tits and also the blackbirds who tend to be ground feeders. The young starlings do squabble amongst themselves and fight a bit though:)
DeleteThey do tend to frighten the other birds away when they come in en masse - but it was funny the other day watching a big group of them trying to bathe all at the same time in the bird bath - needless to say, there wasn't much water left when they'd finished splashing about.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes they do all try to bathe at the same time, don't they? They seem to scuabble amongst themselves more that they do with the other birds but I expect all that noise and activity frightens them off - much like us avoiding a gang of youths messing about in the street:)
DeleteThey are a pain and noisy but there is something about them that I quite like and they really are pretty with the different colour shades on their feathers. I did go to Stone in Staffs one February to see them and it was really amazing and quite awe inspiring but I would really love to go down to Somerset to see the huge amounts that dance in the air. x
ReplyDeleteI must try to get to Stone to see them - like you I'd love to see the ones in Somerset that would be amazing:)
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