Starlings

A much maligned bird is the starling, however I just love them. One of my earliest memories of starlings was in the 70's when trim phones adorned a lot of homes. Our local flock of starlings in Perth could and did mimic said phone ring which in turn had numerous house owners running from the garden and into their homes frantically searching for the phone. It is a beautiful glossy bird with extraordinary colours (greens and purples) when you look close enough.

They may be a little on the quarrelsome side when at a bird table, in fact they are a blooming nightmare. But when you see the absolute beauty of them, all is forgiven.

Here's a lovely and cheeky wee ode to the "Stirry" penned by Seren Roberts

MURMURATION

Murmuration the bird watchers shout Time to look up and scan about What you will see will amaze your eyes Looks like a moving cloud of unbelievable size It’s Starlings flying as one as in a hunt Open your eyes but mouth firmly shut They aren’t too careful where they let things go But the rhythmical flock will put on a great show The opening of the Starling Royal Ballet Is about to show its face upon sky’s stage Binoculars ready for the spectacle of a lifetime You can oooh and ahhh at this special showtime They fly towards you all grouped together Dividing just in time in unison as one feather They swirl and sway like dancers on ice They pirouette like lovers entwined, to entice Why does this bird who is so graceful a delight Attack other birds, continually wanting to fight Their plumage is shiny but its mind is so mean Fight to grow up, as a fighting machine. As you watch them you can forgive them most things Wonder why they fly like this, but they can’t sing Their voices aren’t good, so they can’t steal the show They need a poor blue tit, to sing for them now I can watch this happening time after time They never disappoint me, never just in a line The mass of birds will stay fixed in my head Amazed isn’t the right word use flabbergasted instead