The Round Hill Society

Screech Chatter and Click

Teddy boys of the bird table

From The Round Hill Reporter June 2017

Racy outfits, shiny black with a dazzle of purple tinged with pink and aquamarine green. Out with the other lads. Noisy, brash, greedy. Rarely alone. 'You're smaller than us, so shove over mate, we're here to stay!'

But unfortunately not: Like many other birds that share this planet with us STARLINGS have been shown the RSPB 'at risk' Red Card. The population of starlings has fallen by 80%in the last few decades. Probably as our climate becomes drier, their food of choice - worms - is harder to come by.

Nevertheless, it is still possible to be awestruck by the swirling flight patterns (murmurations) they create in the sky in that magical time between day and dusk. Flocks from all parts of the City, can join together in their hundreds to perform aerial acrobatics before roosting in favoured places. The two Brighton Piers being in the top dozen places in Britain to see this remarkable phenomenon, all the year round but especially in the early Autumn.

They land and spend a noisy, busy, busy few minutespreening and pecking, jostling and arguing about their bit of space and then suddenly with one accord all appears quiet. In the morning I have read, they leave their roosting place in a much more orderly fashion - small groups at a timeat approximately three minute intervals. Amazing.

One of those groups come up to Roundhill to spend the day, they certainly try to monopolise bird tables which is why it is a good idea to place smaller feeding stations around a garden so that timid birds can find safer places to eat. There are plenty of gnats, midges and aphids around for the newly hatched nestlings for all kinds of garden birds but the overworked adults trying to catch choice food for their young, will be grateful to know there are still places they can find a supply of seeds, cheese, biscuits oh and water to sustain themselves at this busy time. If you have ever gratefully dropped in at a McDonalds for a break and an easy meal after a days work, you will appreciate how adult birds feel when they drop onto a bird table of tasty bits. Please continue to feed the birds.

Jan Curry