Where have all the Starlings gone

[Pipa]

buy some mealworms.. they go mental for them.. i hardly saw any so far this year until i bought some mealworms..now they come every day with their babys yelling on the fence at me to put some out ... they actually come to the feeder while i stand there sprinkling them.. very impatient hungry tummies
had 25+ in the garden at once the other day, all after the meal worm and fruit/berry suet treats

[Nutty]

We seem to have two parallel threads going on about the same subject.

Where have all the Starlings gone!!

Ahhhhh, that explains it. I read the other thread and couldn't understand where my post had gone to

[Jonquil_d]

We had two families again this summer and now the flocks are back , groups of fifty birds and more over the village and more out on the moors above the edge of the village.

[kimmy]

[kimmy]

Finally managed to put a photo on thread...... have to say lots of lovely Starlings coming into my garden in Co. Down in small flocks more noticeable in last couple weeks or mostly just juveniles in summer with a parent feeding them sometimes. A lot of berries around here still at least as beautiful but hungry birds.

[AfternoonLemon]

I had a flock of at least 30 visiting a neighbour's Rowan tree, they swarmed into the tree and then rested a while on surrounding rooftops. They returned at least once a day until the tree was pretty much stripped.

I'd have taken photos but my camera has no quality on a zoom, and I didn't want to go closer and put them off.

Definitely need to invest in a decent camera asap!

[Jonquil_d]

"I had a flock of at least 30 visiting a neighbour's Rowan tree, "
This matches with a report I had from one of our postmen, that the birds were going mad on a "red berried elderberry bush" in a named road near us. I walked the road and could only see Rowan (Mountain Ash) which had red berries and there were no birds anywhere in sight but I know that subsequently there have been flocks of strlings in and out of the Rowans there......had not realised that they were feeding on the berries.....just now there is a flock on the roof opposite as there has been frequently for some days now.

[hels]

I have just had a flock in my garden...in the region of 150-200 :O
Very exciting stuff...the most I've had before would be around 40!!!

[Little Birder]

If anything, this year I seen more Starlings than ever previously! It more of the question Where have all the Starlings come from?
__________________________________________________ ______________

Life List (In 1 and a half months): 49
Target by 31st December (In 4ish Months): 75

[Jonquil_d]

About this time of year the family groups often of six to eight birds come together to form flocks that roost together, sometimes in the hundreds and thousands as witnessed on a number of coastal sites (spectacular sights), but also on inland sites, including the moors near here. During the day the sometimes huge overnight roosting groups break down into smaller bands, still sometimes dozens if not hundreds strong and these go roaming looking for food...I think they may send out "scouts" to look for food as more than once we have been visited by a single bird, which has not stopped to feed but has gone off, only for a much bigger group of birds to be with us shortly afterwards...as I write I can see groups of fity and more crossing and recrossing the area.