Starlings

[fje202]

Don't they have alot of babies there were nine out there this morning, and at one point one adult was trying to feed three babies, they look very fluffy and round. I am worried about the blackbirds they keep missing out on the food its gone before they get a look in, i have not had as many blackbird babies as last year, the only thing that seems to put the starlings off is when the jay comes down for a feed. Anyway its well worth it i believe they are on the endangered list though there does seem to be alot of them at the moment which is good!

[UNKAL]

Ah yes the annual starling fat block fest is upon us all I see. I love it and it does normally cost us ££s in fat blocks so this year we mainly putting out soggy bread by the loaf which they seem to enjoy.

I'm not the only one who loves it though, our local friendly fox was also taking an interest and was sat under the tree where I hang the feeders and fat blocks, it didn't stop the kamikaze starlings though who carried on feeding dangling from the fat block just a couple of feet above our foxy friend!! I didn't have my camera with me unfortunately...

[Anyanka]

How many young does each starling pair produce? I've see three or four big youngsters harrass one adult on my lawn, and wondered if they just pounce on any adult that comes their way!

We've had an absolute invasion of starling babies since the weekend, this morning I could not get back to sleep after 6am because of the noise, but all the inconvenience is weighed up by the entertainment factor. The youngsters are hilarious, waddling at top speed, falling flat on their beaks - sitting on a pile of food on the bird table but calling for mum to feed them...

And, the reward for my tolerance: I see lots of slug killing going on. As I love my garden and my flowers, that is a very welcome side effect!

[witham]

We have also got loads of the pesky birds, they seem to appear from nowhere as soon as the food is put out and make sooooo much noise especially their young, I had to laugh at two who were sat in a small dish on one of the feeding stations waiting to be fed and as the parent bird tried to land on the same dish they all fell off, the Blackbirds families try their best but are easily pushed aside but persist and always seem to end up with their fill as well

[Anyanka]

Here's a picture I took this morning - quality isn't great as I had to shoot from a distance with a little digital camera, but it does give an idea of the throng. There were loads more young on the lawn, but this lot were literally sitting on the food, waiting for mum to give it to them!

As mother of two teenagers, the situation looked familiar to me...