Starlings

[Mike G]

Yesterday I mowed what I euphemistically call my lawn, the next morning it was very popular with the local starlings. To save you counting them there are 88 in view plus a few out of shot so around a 100 of them!

X-T2 + 23mm 1.4 @ 1/100 f 5.6 ISO 640 and a heavy crop. With a Ring Necked Parakeet on the feeder.

[Fons Baerken]

These birds have their work cut out

[Jakov Minić]

the invasion of starlings

[ArthurDent]

4 pies worth!

[Mike G]

Thanks chaps, Fons the work was all mine, the mower is still cooling down. 

[Fons Baerken]

Thanks chaps, Fons the work was all mine, the mower is still cooling down. 

my eye strayed a bit beyond the lawn

[simato73]

4 pies worth!

Nearly, you would need 96 birds, and they have to be blackbirds, at least if you go by the nursery rhyme.
Cool shot Mike, but how is your lawnmower going to deal with the wild corner?

[John Geerts]

No cats in the neighbourhood, I presume 

[Mike G]

John, Dave the cat wasn't around or there wouldn't have been a single starling to be seen!

Simone & Fons, the wild corner is just that, or it is now. Dave loves to siesta in the long grass!

Jakov, these starlings always seem to go around mob handed, and all disappear by sunset to a communal roost!

Thanks everybody.

[Akira]

Mike, this is quite surreal!  What a nourishing garden you have!   

[Ann]

When I lived in England we called the Starlings "The Commuters" because they arrive in the morning and the sky is filled with huge clouds of them at sunset when they are returning to their roosts.

Seems that Mike's garden is the Office for this bunch?

[Mike G]

Ann is quite right Akira in the English West Country the starling flocks can be 1/2 to 1 million strong. This lot love it when I cut the grass where they probe for Cranefly(daddy long legs) larva. My visitors never quite reach those numbers of course. 

A flock of starlings is known as a "murmuration"

[ArthurDent]

Nearly, you would need 96 birds, and they have to be blackbirds, at least if you go by the nursery rhyme.
Cool shot Mike, but how is your lawnmower going to deal with the wild corner?

I believe he said there were a hundred, although only 80 were shown, so quite enough. Also, starlings are reputed to make a very good pie, even if not blackbirds.

[David Paterson]

Nice picture, Mike, it has nice atmosphere and tho it is quite low-contrast, somehow that suits it very well.

Rhubarb doing well, I see.   

[Mike G]

Yes I really need to harvest some of that Rhubarb, Dave the cat loves to hide under the leaves. 

Not much meat on a starling, just about a mouthful I suspect.