Good afternoon.
My but it has turned cold. I have been out on site this afternoon since three and i have come back to the office feling very chilly. Mind you it is half way through November so we should be expecting some cold weather.
The reason for my afternoon stroll was to take advantage of the fact that it had stopped raining and to have a look at the Starling roost which had reached 800-1000 over the weekend. And i am happy to say they did not dissapoint. When i reached the lagoon hides the starlings were mostly collected on the pylon near the kingfisher hide moving down on to laggon 1 to feed and wash. So i had a bit of a count up while i was waiting for them to start congreagating on the usual pylon. Highlights were 32 Snipe, 2 pied and 1 grey wagtail, the lovely male pintail, 259 lapwing, 1 herring and 2 lesser black back gulls, 1 grey heron and a green sandpiper.
Starlings group together to roost over the winter months for a number of reasons. Safety in numbers is key offering protection from predators such as peregrines or sparrowhawks as they find it hard to pick out and target an indivudual amongst the 100's or 1000's. They also pick roost sites that offer protection from harsh weather are sheltered and warm. Flocks can reach the thousands as the winter progreses and groups join together and our UK birs are joined by migrants from Europe. Our roost site is generally only active for the early winter after wich the starlings move off to join another roost site.
" Despite the incredible size of the flocks, these numbers are just a fraction of what they used to be. Huge starling flocks used to gather over Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, but you have a much better chance of seeing the birds in rural areas. The starling population has crashed by over 70% in recent years, meaning they are now on the critical list of UK birds most at risk. The decline is believed to be due to the loss of permanent pasture, increased use of farm chemicals and a shortage of food and nesting sites in many parts of the UK." RSPB
Just after 3.30 i moved out of the hide to stand on top of the ramp leading to the lagoon hides as this offers you a good view of the pylon and reedbed where the starlings roost. I must admit by quarter to i was not expecting to reach any where near 800 let alone the 1000. Dribs and drabs were coming in from the surrounding area clustering together on the upper reaches of the pylon but by my estiate we were on 300-400. Then they started coming in in flocks and bigger flocks and the noise was great. As these large incoming flocks approached the pylon they were disturbing the starlings off the pylon and we were starting to see some acrobatics so i took out the reserve camera snapped a few shots and then attempted to take a video to try and capture the noise and movemnet, but the batteries died so i am afraid i cant share it with you. I have inserted a couple of the shots i took even though they are a bit grainy, sorry about that.
By my estimate we had 1000 plus starlings in the roost this evening. Sadly they did not all leave the pylon together swirl through the sky in their magical dance and drop in to the reeds, instead groups dropedd off the pylon flew low over the reeds until they reached their tradition roosting site and dropped in. And i admit to wishing for the sparrowhawk that had passed through ealier to come back causing the starlings to offer us a fancy aerobatic show. By 4.15 the starlings had all left the pylon and were safely ensconced in the reedbed but you could still here their chatter and see the odd bird fliting around trying to find a good spot.
So i will have another go tomorrow and hope for a bit more acrobatics. With the weather getting colder and colder this week we may see the size of the roost increasing, so fingers crossed and i will keep you posted.
Thanks
vicky