Innocent Days

The air is not yet crisp and cold but you can feel the changings of the seasons. These are innocent days for the new birds of the year like this freshly minted Starling

and this Sparrow yet to moult.

They have the innocence of youth knowing only of a world which has grown kinder and more abundant. They are not yet wise to the shortening of the days and the privations of Winter. Four out of five will fall to the forest floor, not destined to see another summer day.

Starling Noise

You want to avoid feeding birds in a way starlings can get at it too easily this time of year.

Otherwise you get this noise, which gets a bit much. The 1min clip starts of with the friendly chirp of a sparrow, before quickly descending into a starling-fest. Starlings are communal birds that synchronise their single breeding attempt. Which means all their chicks come out at about the same time and beg for food, and the adults bring the chicks to a good food source. Don’t be that source if you don’t want to hear this…

Starling Roost

The sound of a starling is not a song of beauty. The sound of a million birds, however, in a roost, takes on an unworldy ethereal sound with its own aesthetic…