amazing starlings

[tameblackbirds]

Just seen this clip amazing starlings all gone to Rome for their holidays Lol

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Rome fights record starling flock

[barquar]

It is amazing how they flock to rome in such huge numbers,The bird mess they leave is know joke. Glad its not in my area.Glad I am not on Holiday in Rome.
Barquar

[svenrufus]

There was once (in the 90's) a serious campaign to cut down the elms - part of the national elm collection in Brighton - where a number of starlings hauled up for the night, as they were 'making a mess' on cars queuing at lights below them. Such audacity could not be allowed to pass unpunished. Thankfully common sense prevailed, and the starlings continued to make their views known in a most appropriate manner to/on the fuming drivers below...

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by svenrufus

There was once (in the 90's) a serious campaign to cut down the elms - part of the national elm collection in Brighton - where a number of starlings hauled up for the night, as they were 'making a mess' on cars queuing at lights below them. Such audacity could not be allowed to pass unpunished. Thankfully common sense prevailed, and the starlings continued to make their views known in a most appropriate manner to/on the fuming drivers below...

Dutch Elm disease devastated the British species of Elm in the '70s. Serious conservation efforts followed (including preservation orders in many areas). The only felling was for preservation (increasing distances between Elms) in Dutch Elm areas and those trees infected, which included the Brighton roost Elms. The former site of the Starling winter roost in Brighton ie. the Elms surrounding the Steine was again devastated in the Great Storm of 1987 with many of the roost trees being uprooted, adding insult to injury for the mature Elm population. A campaign to fell them in the '90s to deter the Starling Roost would have been unsuccessful ab initio given the conservation status of the mature Elms in Brighton. Not long after the Great Storm, the roost began to relocate to the West Pier where they stayed for many years . They were 'forced' to relocate again in 2003 with the majority of the roost now on the Palace Pier and a smaller fraction remaining on the West Pier. They did not return to the Steine, even after that fire - perhaps since the area is now much depleted of mature Elms as a consequence of Dutch Elm disease and the Great Storm.

The murmuration of large winter roosts is a fantastic sight - that one in Rome looks worth twitching!! However, I always think it's worth remembering as far as the British pop. is concerned, numbers have declined some 67% over the past 3 decades and many of our British winter roosts include Scandinavian winter migrants - The Brighton roost, certainly appears to be diminishing gradually over a long period of time to my visual memory.

Last week, I counted roughly 18,000 at the Brighton roost and by end of December, numbers should be around 20k (which although nothing like the Rome spectacle is still worth a peep if anyone is in the area - small flocks begin to gather around 3.15 over the town, gradually moving together to perform the classic murmuration displays over the piers about 4pm)

Ps have great memories of slipping over on many occasion walking back from nightclubs along the Steine in the early hours of the morning with mates and none too sober!!!

[Picidae]

PS. The Great Storm incidently almost completely obliterated the migrating Starling Roost that year. It was a tragic sight - I was in tears as were many.

Here's an account from one of our local artists (although the numbers of dead wasn't millions!!!)

The Great Storm 1987@Everything2.com

[svenrufus]

Originally Posted by Picidae

The Brighton roost, certainly appears to be diminishing gradually over a long period of time to my visual memory.

Last week, I counted roughly 18,000 at the Brighton roost and by end of December, numbers should be around 20k (which although nothing like the Rome spectacle is still worth a peep if anyone is in the area - small flocks begin to gather around 3.15 over the town, gradually moving together to perform the classic murmuration displays over the piers about 4pm)

Ps have great memories of slipping over on many occasion walking back from nightclubs along the Steine in the early hours of the morning with mates and none too sober!!!

Last week, I took the Little Girl down to the Palace Pier (I refuse to call it Brighton Pier as they now like to tell us it is!) and while I'm not much good at counting large numbers of birds, I reckon there was between 20-30k in the main flock at the end of the pier, with more off still over the West Pier remains. Some of the smaller flocks start to gather right outside my front room window, on the elms and roofs and church, I have up to 2000 in sight here at times, then as if someone sends a signal, they all take off at once.

As for slipping on the road at the Old Steine, I always used the Pavilion Gardens to avoid just such a fate!

You're right about the history of the elms, and the campaign to get rid of the Steine trees was serious in as much as it ran in the letters pages of the paper for quite a while, but never really got beyond the ignorant bleatings of demented motorists.

Cheers
Sven
PS, you still in Brighton?