Starling squabble

For a botanist I seem to be taking an awful lot of bird photographs! We've been putting out home-made fat balls for a few weeks now, but they've mostly been gobbled up by the magpies, with a little help from various tits. However, today the starlings have discovered them - initially one or two, but by the end of the day there were at least four.

I have a really soft spot for starlings. Growing up in the suburbs of London, they were one of the two commonest birds. Throwing out bread would guarantee at least twenty or thirty landing on the lawn in a squabbling heap. Nowdays their numbers have declined, and since we moved to our current house they've always been scarce in our predominantly woodland garden, favouring areas nearby with fewer trees and more open grass. So it's always a special day when they start visiting for the winter.

Even small numbers seem to manage to squabble - these two have been caught in the act! This photograph shows up their dagger-like beaks, ideal for probing lawns for worms and tasty insects. You can also see the lovely iridescence on their feathers and their rather smart reddish feet. I think the one on the right might have some sort of growth on its face as there seems to be a lump which shows up in all the pictures I took.

Many thanks for all the comments yesterday on our chicken. I think she probably looked scarier than she actually is - in fact she's a bit of a softy and even quite likes the occasional cuddle!