It is getting to that time of the year again when starlings are performing their wildlife spectacles as they gather into their communal roosts in their thousands - or even hundreds of thousands. Do you have a major starling roost near you that has given you that wow encounter? There are big roosts on Brighton Pier, RSPB Ham Wall reserve and at Gretna Green, but surely there are many more up and down the country? And how about mass roosts of other birds - I have heard rumours of a corvid roost somewhere in the Sheffield area?
The Runcorn bridge close to where I once lived in cheshire has (or did then) a very large starling roost.
Here in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire we have the biggest Corvid roost I have ever seen. It, at its height is thousands strong. In the peak time, around January-February, They can start a very cold but sunny day, climbing up making the outside of a spiral twister of birds that resembles a Tornado only to fall down the centre, in a way only a crow can do, like surfing. I don't know why this is, maybe to warm up or for fun, it looks like fun! This climb looks to be a few thousand feet. I once tried to film the spectacle and have been recently trying to find the tape (one of my children has been known to use my camera!!!) no luck yet.
I had to zoom out and back up so much that the black dots could be easily mistaken for starlings. It is quite impossible to get them all in. for half an hour, each morning at the peak, (very early) the sky turns black.
It has to be seen to be believed.
We have already reached the point where the residents are greeted each morning! ;-) not everyone likes this.
John
For viewing or photography right place right time is everything. I'd rather be in the right place with poor kit than have the best kit and be in the wrong place.
Yesterday I took this quick snap of the currant position, Corvid roost, the numbers are growing day by day. I'm Still searching my video tapes for the shots I took when first moving in. Failing that I will try to keep up with them this year!
The view is over two houses! My lens is not wide enough to shoot the view over the Twenty ish roof tops I can see from my living room window. The numbers over all of them, is about the same at this time and a great many are still in the trees behind and to the left of this shot. The main thing to remember is these dots are of the crow family.
I will when the light conditions are right try to be in position to do the roost justice!
John :-)
That is a considerable number of corvids there John. The noise must be something to hear as well as the sight being spectacular. We have had similar numbers of starlings to your crows around for the past week or so but nothing like that many corvids. Maybe 20 or so carrion crows but no more.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
We have a small starling roost here in Banbury - about 6,000 birds at its peak, which is a tiny fraction of the huge roost down at the RSPB's Otmoor reserve. But the Banbury roost shifts around a lot - a couple of years ago they favoured the housing estate near the railway station (and made fron page news when local home and car owners began complaining about the mess!) Thankfully for the last couple of winters they've shifted their allegiance to the industrial estate which, being almost deserted at night, causes fewer problems.
The other spectacle we get to enjoy in town is the pied wagtail roost, a couple of hundred strong. For a while they used to gather in a single silver birch near the railway station, where they'd sit like so many Christmas decorations lit up by the yellow glare of the streetlamp. More recently they've taken to the flat roof of the local supermarket so we can no longer see them at rest, just twittering as they fly in over the roofs and land somewhere up above - probably by the warm air vents!
Does anyone else have pied wag roosts near them?
Perth high street has several silver birch on the pedestrian stretch that fill this time of year with pied wags.
Twittering away as the street fills with christmas shoppers just below.
Not sure exactly where they roost but we have a sizeable flock in the 'winter' at the business park where I work! There are plenty of trees around including silver birches! When I first started working here in 2001 I never knew they flocked like it in the colder months and was so surprised to see so many together!!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
This morning, whilst drinking my coffee and waiting to wake up, I saw a small flock of starlings (in fact not sure if you could call it a flock - what makes a flock?) flying above the garden to the back of us. I was surprised to see they do their wonderful synchronised flight even in small numbers, twisting and twirling in synch. Interestingly enough on the out side of the "flock" two gulls were flying with them.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
There is an enormous winter roost of starlings in the Davidstow/Crowdy Reservoir area on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. Driving along the roads towards the old airstrip, on the way to the reservoir last winter was incredible, there was not a single telegraph wire/tree/bush that wasn't swamped with the birds and when they all took to the air I had to stop driving because I couldn't see where I was going, there were so many! It really was an incredible sight. I don't live very far from there (under half an hour in the car) but haven't had the opportunity to visit recently, for one reason or another. I hope to soon though, I'm desperate for some photographs! They might not be there for much longer, incidentally - a very large, very controversial wind farm has just been given the final nod of approval to be built in the area. The locals are in uproar.
I hail from Banbury and I remember the starling roosts well. Sadly, I think the numbers may well have diminished there in the last 15 years. Despite this, still an awesome sight! Starlings are a much underestimated bird. There also used to be a sizeable Starling roost around Coventry cathedral.
As for Pied wagtails roosts - the staff car park at Amazon in Bedfordshire used to boast a good 60+ birds.
Claire
There is a reasonable starling roost at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. I helped lead a walk last Wednesday to watch them and we saw over 100,000 displaying over the reedbed as a sparrowhawk attacked them. The starlings were displaying for about half an hour from 4.00pm onwards