This was my backyard yesterday! I don't like the starlings even in small numbers because they are loud and nasty birds, but in large numbers they are intolerable!
You would not have believed the mess on my yard, house and patio after they flew away. They are eating some kind of red berry and they red seedy mess they leave is just hideous.
Yuck! Do you remember the scenes in Steel magnolias where the dad shoots off the shotgun to chase the starlings away! People try all kinds of noise makers to get them to leave! Good luck, maybe they cleaned the trees and will be off to bother another garden! gail
ReplyDeletethat does kind of make you wonder where they're coming from, and why?
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a lot of birds. We have the same lack of love for the ducks that like our pond, but I'd be horrified if they came in such large number. I can only begin to imagine the mess. Thanks so much for your faithful visits and comments. (((Hugs)))
ReplyDeleteThese photos bring Alfred Hitchcock to mind. They do make a horrible mess. As Gail says they will leave once the food source is gone. They used to try to roost in our big pine trees. I was the crazy neighbor lady out banging pots and pans together to chase them away.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I agree about starling being nasty, disgusting little birds! I can't believe how many were in the yard!!
ReplyDeleteYes, this has that Hitchcock feel for sure! Oh my...
ReplyDeleteCameron
And all that pretty white snow as a back drop!! We have Canadian Geese and they leave big droppings behind. They dare you to complain about them. They'll chase you!
ReplyDeleteGail, I was mad at the neighbor boy a few days ago for hanging out his bedroom window and shooting at my birds with his BB gun. Maybe I can pay him to shoot the starlings!
ReplyDeleteJan, it's so good to see a picture of you! Last year I only had a few, this year there are thousands. I hope they go elsewhere, and fast!
Patricia, I think any bird in those numbers would be bad.
Lisa, I don't know if they are eating from the crabapple trees or what, but it really is nasty. Hmmm...pots and pans, now there's an idea. Lilly usually takes care of them for me.
Sherri, I know! There are thousands of them!
Cameron, I think about that when I see them!
Anna, I can be thankful that they do fly away when I shoo them off, rather than chase me. That would be scary!
Wow, Robin, that is a lot of Starlings. We occasionally see flocks that large flying by, but they don't stop...thank heaven. I think I'd have to get the shot gun out!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you love to have a word with the fellow who supposedly brought them over from England and let them loose in Central Park?
ReplyDeletedon
Yikes! That's a creepy sight. Starlings are such pests.
ReplyDeleteegads. What a nightmare. I was going to say just what Gail did ~ maybe their food source is almost gone and they'll move on soon?? I would not like this many in my yard at all!
ReplyDeleteHere is hoping they move on to berries elsewhere. We once had a problem like that with blackbirds. Every noise maker imaginable was used even firecrackers.
ReplyDeleteAwww, Robin. I'm so sorry. We have flocks that large fly overhead but they've never converged on my property like that. I know the mess 6 can make, so I can't imagine your grief!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Mary
How awful! I do hope they will soon move on.
ReplyDeleteToo amazing! The starlings have all left our countryside for weeks, I see they've gathered at your house!
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention the red mess, I know what you mean. Our cedar waxwings leave the same red splotchy messes when they eat the mountain ash berries. We don't really mind, as they are one of the birds that stay here all winter.
Hi Robin,
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering how your starling troubles are going? Have they left yet, or at least cut down in their numbers? It really must be a mess...Jan
OMGoodness...it is something out of a horror movie! You need a dog or something to chase them away. Nasty things!
ReplyDeleteThere are entirely too many Starlings in this world is what I say. Starlings show up here in record numbers. Lisa has it right - it's very Hitchcockian. That, plus they love to boot out tree cavity nesting birds like my beloved red headed woodpeckers and THAT I cannot abide.
ReplyDeleteEww! I can imagine what a mess that would be, as we in Austin are often afflicted by grackles and the mess they leave behind. You don't ever want to park under a grackle colony's roosting tree at night.
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