Day 2 - The Starling - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 2: Star Species

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Love them or loathe them there is no denying the starling is an amazing bird and regulars in my garden. For many years they have been coming everyday and around about this time every year the kids join them! Today I spent almost all day trying to catch a pair of blue tits with 3 fledglings on camera, but they were proving difficult - so instead I want to concentrate on the starling and the first starling fledgling that showed up today.

More about them - A lot of people think starlings are just dark, dull birds but if you really look at a starling (especially in sunlight) you will be surprised how beautifully colourful it is: glossy with a sheen of purples and greens (see for yourself with the below video...)

Juveniles however are dull brown in colour, some with a pale throat. They moult completely in the autumn to reveal the spotty adult plumage. The chicks are fed an all-invertebrate diet by both parents before and after they fly the nest in around May. 

Adult & juvenile together

Unfortunately Starlings have had something of a bad press. Some people see these birds are bullies and noisy, plus when they visit gardens in groups means they can empty bird tables in minutes, making them appear greedy. I on the other hand welcome them and love to see them. 

Starling singing it's creative song "whistle, click, whistle..."

They are an extremely intelligent and adaptable bird that has the ability to mimic other bird calls and machines (such as car alarms and telephones) - they haven't really got a 'song' just a medley of squeaks, clicks and whistles.

"Safety in numbers..."

Murmurations - Have you ever seen a starling murmuration? If you have, you know how spectacular it is. If you haven't I can't recommend it enough - it's nature at it's best. Starlings are highly sociable and flocks of 1000s gather in the evening and perform fantastic aerobatic displays before dropping into their roost sites. They gather in these huge numbers for safety as predators (such as sparrowhawks) find it hard to pick out an individual bird - they also benefit by keeping warm amongst the other birds and exchange information.

Below is a video I filmed at The Wildlife Centre in Cilgerran a few years ago (a fabulous place to see the spectacle in the winter.)

"they need help..."

Unfortunately the number of starlings have dropped dramatically in the last 30 years - in the UK this result is almost an 80% population decrease. They are now on the red list and even though they still seem a garden regular they have decreased in other areas - they need help. There are several causes of the decline: including loss of invertebrates through the use of pesticides, fewer nesting sites in urban areas and changes in farming practices.

What can we do to help?

• Starlings eat lots of insects, so it's important you keep your lawn: they love leatherjackets (the larve of crane flies) and dig in the grass looking for them. 
• Plant a berry tree (such as an elder) - they love to eat the berries 
• Erect a large nest box with a 45mm diameter hole high up on a shady wall of your house. 

Some of my regulars on a neighbour's aerial

Interesting Facts:

• The word 'murmuration' is used to describe their aerial display, but originally referred to the sound of wings rippling through the flock.
• Do you know how starlings got their name? In winter starlings have lots of pale spots all over their dark bodies. The white spots on dark plumage were thought to look like the night sky - so they were named 'Star'ling (sweet!).

Day 29 - 30 Days Wild - Fledglings in the garden

* Today's random act of wildness - Fledglings in the garden *

It's the last but one day today - it has gone so quick! This evening was spend in my shed looking at the birds in the garden. I noticed we are getting a second brood of starling fledglings and a few younf sparrows show up too.

I haven't just fed these birds for the last 30 days I have been feeding them for years and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Cute Starling fledgling

Starling fledgling having a drink in the bird bath

Starling fledgling with adult

This is what I feed them - suet pellets and mealworm

Suet cake (I also feed them fatballs, peanuts etc...)

Sparrows, the one on the right is a fledgling

Male sparrow

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

Day 18 - 30 Days Wild - Beachcombing in Bognor

* Today's random act of wildness - Beachcombing *

Today we ventured to Bognor Regis to stay for a few days with Dan's dad for Father's Day. I was worried I wouldn't be able to do anything 'wild' but was surprised at the amount of rooks that were in the service station we stopped at. They were so confident walking in and out of the cars and sitting in the trees - they are lovely looking birds :)

Rook

Rook in the tree

It took us forever to get to Bognor from Swansea, but we eventually arrived around 3pm. After spending some time with Dan's dad we had a little walk on the beach to see what we could see.

Middleton on Sea is mainly a sand and shingle beach with encourages an array of birds from Oystercatcher to Sanderling - the weather wasn't that great and the only birds we saw were a few egrets, heron gulls and lots of starlings.

Egret

Egret eating seaweed

Starlings

Apart from the birds there were lots of interesting things among the pebbles including lots of Spider Crab shells and mermaid's purse.

Mermaid's Purse with other bits of wash up organic items

Whelk egg case

Lots of Spider crab shells

The beach with Butlins in the distance

Day 1 - 30 Days Wild - An Evening Garden Birdwatch

It's back! 

#30DaysWild - A whole month of doing cool wild stuff which I am super excited about it. In case you don't know what it is, for the second year running the Wildlife Trust have launched a campaign where they encourage people to do something 'wild' every day throughout the month of June. This is my second year to do it, I loved it so much last year I didn't want it to end and continued to carry on writing about my adventures in my main blog (www.sands-walks.blogspot.co.uk).

What to do for my first day? Well, unfortunately I had to work today and didn't get home until after six so I thought I would keep it 'very' local and for one hour I sat quietly and watched what birds come into the garden at evening...

*Today's random act of wildness - A evening garden birdwatch*

Well first off I would like you to meet 'Wildling the Fox' he will be my little mascot throughout the 30 days...cute isn't he and proudly wearing my #30DaysWild badge :)

Apart from fatballs, peanuts and coconut shells the birds love this concoction of mealworm and suet pellets. At precisely 6.30pm I put it out for them...

...within seconds we get our first visitor - a feral pigeon.

Next up the sparrows, mostly males tonight.

Then the noisy ones...the starlings

It all starts kicking off on the feeder between the starlings and the pigeons "he's behind you!"

A face off over the suet coconut! 

It's not long before the pigeons give up and move along leaving the starlings victorious of the feeder!

It's just past 7pm and already our list looks impressive!

Next visitor was a magpie...

...then more starlings with a few juveniles

Finally we finish our hour with a few jackdaws (the other is just off camera)

Phew! I thought it would be quiet this time of the night, but great to see so much activity in the garden and what a great way to kick off #30DaysWild with launching it with our regular feathered friends :)

The full list is:

• Starlings - 7
• Jackdaws - 2
• Magpie - 1
• Sparrows - 4
• Wood Pigeon - 1
• Feral Pigeon - 4