Starlings ahoy
08 Nov 2013
Several small groups of Starlings, totalling in excess of 100 birds, passed over as I BirdTracked my way round the BTO Nunnery Lakes this morning. Whilst this might not sound particularly remarkable for a widespread and common (if declining) breeding species, viewing my peak Starling counts for the site in Explore My Records reveals that it's noteworthy at a local level. Starlings breed nearby but during the summer months, even when juvenile birds are on the wing, it is unusual to see more than 30 or so birds around the reserve. The observations on my local patch tie in with the wider picture: millions of Starlings arrive from the Continent in late October and November to take advantage of the milder conditions on this side of the North Sea. The numbers of Starling that winter in Britain and Ireland aren't as high as they used to be. However, more than 10,000 individuals were logged on 3 different dates in late October at Hunstanton, Norfolk, and many of these arrivals already seem to have filtered inland.
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