there is nothing common about the starling

So yesterday at the zoo while I was snapping away with my ever dented small Lumix, Mr P. is busily snapping away with his big lense. he ooo-ed and ah-ed about my photos and then I saw his! Drat! They are magnificent. We both took a few picture of the ‘common’ starlings which had broken into the Snowdon Aviary, and just about taken over.
I think it is a shame that we tend to dwell on the ‘common’ bit of their name and not the ‘star’ bit as they are wonderful looking birds, and we should be grateful that there are  enough of them  around to still class them as ‘common’, unless they have some nasty habits I don’t know about, like belching and showing their underwear in public.I have always wanted to see one of those great big starling waves. Huge flocks of more than a million Starlings are observed just before sunset in spring in southwestern Jutland Denmark. There they gather in March until northern Scandinavian birds leave for their breeding ranges by mid-April. Their flocking creates 

complex shapes against the sky, a phenomenon known locally as sort sol (“Black Sun”).(wiki)

So it looks like Jutland in March/April would be the place to go. Ah – at last! something for the (before I kick the) bucket list. Thanks for the photos Mr. P. x x x x x

SONG OF THE DAY– Elbow – Starlings

Yey!!!!! ‘then I’m spinning and I’m diving like a cloud of starlings’ what a poet! I am so chuffed that I found a song with the title and it is a beautiful song, Elbow are such a great band – so much heart and down to earth poetical reality in their lyrics.