| Starlings aplenty!
Another tale of Herefordshire birdlife! A cob nut tree nearly engulfed wholly with ivy, hop bines and brambles that sits behind my mother in laws house on a hill overlooking the Wye valley is The Grande Hotel for starlings. At dawn the chorus of waking birds reaches a crescendo of wittering ending with a phased departure of groups of 20 or so until the tree is empty. My guess is between 120 to 150 birds. The best sight though, is of the arrivals just before dark. Coming in from various directions in their groups, they settle and squabble and settle again till all is quiet. The noise is something else! Then, all is hush as the last shards of sunlight slip silently over the Welsh mountains to the West. The scene to be repaeted in the coming morning mirrors our own daily grind. If only we could fly as they do?
Do you know of similar tree hotels? |