Suits Your Sir

We have another batch of young Starlings in the garden. I love them when they are in this stage of transition from their dusky chocolate coloured feathers to their adult plumage. I always think it looks like they are wearing a rather snazzy waistcoat.

The garden has been mobbed today. We have a decent flock of Greenfinches and Blue Tits around. There has also been some interesting behaviour going on over the past couple of days. The Starlings and Great Tits have been "anting" on the patio. They deliberately peck at an ants nest to stir them up, and then they allow them to "attack" their feathers. The formic acid then kills and drives off any parasites and ticks they may have upon them. I managed to stick a short clip up on youtube of this happening. Better still, the camera was on a tripod, so it's not in wobblevision!

You can have a look at that 20 second clip by clicking this link: Great Tit Anting.