Starling roosts

Anyone else been watching them?

Just outside our house has become a tourist attraction at about 5pm every evening for the past two weeks or so. Cars are coming from everywhere and parking up, completely blocking the road, to watch the spectacular show over our house every evening!

I've never seen anything like it. First you feel the movement of air on your face, then the sky turns black, and then thousands of starlings put on an incredible show of synchronised movements. Breathtaking!

The local Wildfowl Reserve are putting approx figures at about 100,000 birds converging here. needless to say our house and cars have been splattered!
Apparently numbers of birds are much higher than usual as birds have been moving on from even colder spots...

I really must try get some pics tomorrow evening!

I witness this at my fathers work every year. The super flocks are something to behold and the noise is something else. I had an awesome video I'll try to locate. You can walk amongst the trees (with an umbrella) at anytime of evening or night and just listen to the continuous interaction between them.

I simply LOVE these birds, not only for how beautiful they are but also due to their vocal capabilities which unfortunately most people have no idea how amazing our little native is (like many of it's family). I kept Hill Mynas for a many years and have had captive European Starlings and they never fail to amaze with their flawless impersonations, trucks reversing, machinery, people laughing, phones ringing. What's also impressive to watch is the amount of Raptors the flock attract and it is something you can just sit and watch for hours.

It's actually hilarious to sit and watch a small flock on a wire and hear the different nosies they produce, it gives you a good idea of the area they are spending a lot of time near, like a building site etc...

I really look forward to the pics Lisa and sorry for the ramble, I had to stop myself form waffling on