The RSPB

[FUDGEY]

In the latest issue of the RSPB magazine there is a feature on the best Starling roosts in the UK. I was shocked to see that they never included the Gretna roost. Pretty incompetent if you ask me, who ever wrote this piece hasnt got a clue IMO. Here are some pics from yesterday. How many can beat this?

[RoyW]

Great shots Fudgey - I especially like the third one from the left!

As for the RSPB leaving this roost out of the article, there will always be sites that others rate highly left out of articles like this, sometimes just because they were overlooked. There may be other reasons though, for example, could parking be a problem at the Gretna roost if a lot of people travelled to see it?

[FUDGEY]

Thanks Roy and no parking is fine. In fact it is probably as good a parking area as you could get. What angered me more was that they used two pictures in the article from the Gretna roost. A bit cheeky if you ask me.

[rossy]

nice shots of the swirl fudgey, rossy.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Thanks Roy and no parking is fine. In fact it is probably as good a parking area as you could get. What angered me more was that they used two pictures in the article from the Gretna roost. A bit cheeky if you ask me.

thing is like roy said articles like this always miss out some sites - theres a big roost at swindon sewage works/B&Q warehouse too - probably not as big as gretna but still substantial, and there are probably hundreds of others, so no article is ever going to mention them all, and the article wasnt billed as a definitive guide to every starling roost in the uk - top 5, top 10 etc is always a subjective judgement on behalf of the writer and editor.

So its fine to disagree with the judgement, but to say that they are "incompetent" or "dont know what they are talking about" just because their judgement doesnt agree with yours is more than a little harsh - you could always write to birds and send one of your pics to illustrate your point, or even write an article and submit it for publication.

and as to the picture - that may not have been keyworded as gretna - so the picture editor probably searched for starling roost, and just thought ohh that a nice shot i'll use that.

[FUDGEY]

Im not having any argument in favour of the RSPB this time. Gretna must be one of the if not the biggest and most spectacular in the UK no question about it. It seems like to old case of "its in Scotland so its not that important" syndrome. Its like a football magazine having a list of the best premierships teams and omitting Manchester Utd.

[RKB]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Im not having any argument in favour of the RSPB this time. Gretna must be one of the if not the biggest and most spectacular in the UK no question about it. It seems like to old case of "its in Scotland so its not that important" syndrome. Its like a football magazine having a list of the best premierships teams and omitting Manchester Utd.

First, unless you have visited every single roost, you're hardly in a position to say Gretna is the biggest. They do vary from day to day, week to week and year to year. Second, as RSPB have a whole arm called 'RSPB SCotland', I think you're being a bit chippy (give them a parliament, give them an RSPB, and they still moan!). Third, where do >90% of the RSPB's members live? Nowhere near Gretna. I haven't seen the article, but unless it was meant to be a 'top 10 of the biggest and most spectacular starlings roosts, including Scotland', then you're maybe being a bit harsh.

[FUDGEY]

Please take the time to read my post properly before replying. I never said Gretna was "the" biggest, I said " It must be one of the if not the biggest" Estimations of around a million birds now, so if you know a bigger one Id love to know so I could go and visit it. As for the comment saying ""90% of members not living near Gretna" This just proves my point. What about the RSPB members in Scotland? If this sight had been shown then it would have been the closest one for them visit. Who ever wrote that piece s.hould start writing other material on a different subject. I suggest something like the Beano.
PS Do some of the roosts mentioned have more than 10% of the membership living close by????

[pressld2]

First of all, great photos Fudgey. The black and white conversion works a treat too.

The article, written by Derek Niemann, is all about starlings and not specifically about the roost sites. There is a panel headed "Top roosts" which lists seven and describes them as "Some of the biggest and best known roosts" (my italics) so it isn't claiming to be a definitive list. The seven sites are Leighton Moss, Blacktoft Sands, Conwy, Titchwell Marsh, Minsmere, Ham Wall/Shapwick Heath and Brighton. So they also missed out Aberystwyth which Autumnwatch obviously felt was worth a visit, as well as dozens of others throughout the UK.

All in all I think that labelling the entire organisation as incompetent over this is a tad unfair, particularly as publishing a members' magazine is a very very small part of what they do.

Dave P.

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Estimations of around a million birds now, so if you know a bigger one Id love to know so I could go and visit it.

Difficult to be sure. As RKB says, numbers fluctuate from year to year and through the season and they sometimes switch between different roost sites. On top of all of that, starling numbers are in a rather worrying decline at the moment so numbers this year may well be down on previous years and that may not happen uniformly at all sites. So last year's biggest roost may not be this year's biggest.

The most recent estimate I can find for Gretna is on the BBC site at 250,000 but that is a couple of weeks old so the numbers may well be higher by now. In previous years, the Shapwick Heath roost on the Somerset Levels has reached 6 million birds.

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

PS Do some of the roosts mentioned have more than 10% of the membership living close by????

Well it rather depends on how you define "close by" but Brighton probably does. At the last census 2001, 25.8% of the UK population lived in London and the South East. Assuming that RSPB membership is evenly spread throughout the population then at least half of these people are within my definition of "close by" Brighton.

Dave P.