Starling Flocks

[paulchandler6]

Watched a flock of Starlings perform their pre-roost ritual this evening. When I first saw the flock there were approx 3-400 birds and over the next 30 minutes it grew to approx 1500. Most of the birds arrived from the south in flocks of between 30-50 birds. Just as it started to darken they all seemed to fly into gardens that had conifers in.
A fascinating site to see weaving about in a clear sky.

Paul

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by paulchandler6

Watched a flock of Starlings perform their pre-roost ritual this evening. When I first saw the flock there were approx 3-400 birds and over the next 30 minutes it grew to approx 1500. Most of the birds arrived from the south in flocks of between 30-50 birds. Just as it started to darken they all seemed to fly into gardens that had conifers in.
A fascinating site to see weaving about in a clear sky.

Paul

Can well remember watching a flock of Starlings coming into roost in a reed bed around this time of year. One of natures great spectacles and certainly a sight worth seeing
Roger

[NuttyMeg]

on the mid-welsh coast here in Aberystwyth, they are regularly flocking in the evening at the minute. i've seen them early in the morning too at sunrise. the formations they make are amazing and they all seem to react so quickly to one another. they dont half make a noise though under the pier where they roost and i dont like to be stood directly under them when they fly over either!

[big bill]

Only ever seen images on programms of this or pics would like to see it first hand

[paulchandler6]

The roosting Starling flock I have been watching over the past few weeks has grown to about 2000 birds now.
At one point just before dusk they all suddenly grouped into a tight ball formation. My first thought was Sparrowhawk............and about 5 seconds later a Sparrowhawk flew straight thru the middle of the flock, came out the other side and carried on its way. I wondered whether it actually went for a bird or just decided to take a chance of an extra meal as it may have already fed?

Paul

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by big bill

Only ever seen images on programms of this or pics would like to see it first hand

same here bill,it must be a fantastic sight to see.

[ColonelBlimp]

Next to where I live there is a wooded/fieldy bit in which we often have starlings roosting. Sadly I get in too late to see their wheeling about etc. in the week, but on weekends I often see the flock of about 300 in the evening preparing to roost-small game I know compared to reed bed-ded areas, but still an awesome sight!

[Tormentil]

I used to see huge flocks of them when I was at Corus. You'd see small flocks coming in from all directions until there was one huge flock wheeling about.

I think they liked the warm roosting places.

[alanhill]

They are one of the great sights of the birding world, but for many years the really large flocks have been declining. However this winter there seem to be a good number about, a lot of continental migrants joining our resident birds. In the North-west the best roost seems to be at Leighton Moss, which is a bit far for me to get to, living in Manchester. There used to be a huge roost of around one million birds on the Runcorn-Widnes bridge, but that is much smaller now. I'd love to hear from anyone in NW England as to where there are good size roosts.

alanhill

[NuttyMeg]

am I right in thinking Starlings are a protected species? I was chatting to a keen birdwatcher the other day who was telling me about an electrician or someone who shoots them on a farm as targets and she was very taken aback and gave him what for. Apparently he hadn't a clue they were protected.

I know populations are unfortunately on the decline but are they actually classed as a protected species at the moment?

Thanks x