I heard a terrible racket outside this morning and looked out the window. I could not believe it! Hundreds of starlings everywhere! I wish I'd had a camera upstairs. The common area beside my home and my yard were covered. When they took off it made the most unbelievable noise.
By the time I had grabbed the camera most of them were gone across the street.
Nasty birds! I had several spots on the house and windows like this one.
Too bad he didn't come a little earlier he could have had a feast today.
22 comments:
What a crowd. A couple of starlings must have told their friends, "Come on! There's a Christmas party at Robin's Nesting Place!"
Amy
Hi Robin, I agree with Amy, the word got out about the bird friendly house at Robin's nesting place! Yuck to what they did to your house. :-( We are rooting for the hawk.
Frances
Ohhh those are obnoxious birds indeed...sorry about your window, bleck!
Your hawk needs to let his buddies know where the buffett is!!!
Kim
Oddly enough I have had a fondness for starlings since some of them used to nest in the hangar that I worked in. I could see their nest from my window. After watching them raising their chicks and teaching them to fly etc I even started to like them. Almost enough to forgive them for the "reminders" that they left all over the place. I enjoyed visiting your blog. :)
Ack! Feh! Blech! We hates Starlings ever since they kicked out the RHW and started a nest in the dead limb that held their nest. The starlings were dispatched, ahem, and the RHWs returned. Learned my lesson about those nasty birds. I'm a bird lover but I'm a realist and RHW (red-headed woodpeckers) (on the threatened list) come FIRST, imho. I'm rooting for the hawk and his buddies, too.
Messy noisy birds...good thing the hawk hangs out at Robin's place! gail
Robin, it looks like you could use about a dozen hawks.
I feel for you. Those messy, noisy Starlings are so unwanted in backyards.
UGh I do hate it when so many starling show up in a yard. UGH...
You tell that hawk to be a little quicker at the ready. He is falling down on the job.
Oh, I hope they don't fly here!
Thanks for sizing your photos so that I can actually see them while our network is failing and slow.
Cameron
Robin, I am so glad you are back to posting on your blog for I missed you while you were AWOL for a while. God bless!!!!!!!!!!
Robin, my grandfather used to call starlings flying rats. I'm sorry but I have to agree. Sorry you had so many in your yard and they "bombed" your windows and home. They are nasty birds!
Starlings are such a nuisance! Do you know why we have starlings here on the North American continent? Because somebody got the brilliant idea to get every species of bird that was mentioned in the works of Shakespeare and let them free in N.Y.'s Central Park. Thanks a lot!
Cindy
I can imagine the racket they made, Robin and wouldn't want that crowd on my roof.
But I can't help thinking it funny that you don't like the starlings but wrote such a sweet post about the sparrows. They're also an introduced bird that competes with native species and by the 1880's, people realized what a mistake it had been to release them.
Of course some days, if it weren't for sparrows, we'd hardly have a bird to watch, would we!
Maybe this link to a pdf of an 1889 NYTimes article will work.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Wow, it's like your living in that old Hitchcock movie.
Oh yes, they're a nuisance, especially when there's such a crowd! The sparrow (mentioned by Annie) can be a pest too, but somehow they're not quite as obnoxious as starlings.
I hope your hawk helps keep them away. It's a handsome bird!
You're lucky to still have a robin in your yard :)
Come by and visit...same problem.
I keep scaring them away from the feeders so the other birds have a chance to feed.
Oh Robin.... I surely don't want Starlings here. When we came home today from Arkansas, we saw a HUGE flock of birds in a field. I don't know what they were---but I told my hubby that I hope they don't come to my house!!!! ha
Well Robin unlike most I welcome all the birds..I encourage them into my garden with all the goodies I supply so-o-o-o I don't mind even the Starlings.. sparrows and their chatter..a true naturegirl
I'm not a starling fan, either. You got some good pictures of them, though. I like the one with them on the roof.
Another one rooting for the hawk here! Starlings are one bird (along with crows) that I don't care for and it seems like they always congregate vs stopping by solo!!! Hopefully they won't stick around long or if so, the hawk can start picking them off!
Wow, I had heard about the starlings becoming invasive, but I think your pictures demonstrate that so much more than any articles I've read.
I hope the hawk can restore some balance.
The hawk is probably say, "Rats, I'm too late!"
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