Starling

I'm in east London this morning having my car serviced.

After a morning looking at the Alan Aldridge exhibition at the Design Museum I walk across Tower Bridge and spot starlings for the first time in years.I tend to think of them as the juvenile delinquents of the bird world... long gangly legs and attitude.

These boys were helping themselves to the lunches of a group of Romanian tourists who were refueling before a visit to the Tower of London.

P.S. David Tolliday, a renowned ornithological photographer informs me that this is actually a girl bird. To quote him:

"Females have slightly larger and rounder pale spots in winter, but there is much overlap.
Eye colour, with females having a slightly paler brown eye, but again difficult to tell without another for comparison.

The degree of spotting on the breast (males in breeding plumage show almost no spotting).
The base of the beak is pinkish rather than blue-grey which males invariably show, although this could change in the next month or so as the breeding season approaches.

A ring around the iris of the eye is visible which isn't in males."

So there you go