Earlier this week we were lucky enough to catch quite a murmuration of starlings just where our lane joins another before it continues up to the main D road. We stopped to watch the arial ballet and listen to the 'woosh' of their wings. They danced in the sky whirling up and then down before swooping to briefly settle on the large oak, electricity wires and harvested sunflower fields before rising up to repeat the whole procedure.
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| Dancing over the fields |
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| Heading to settle in the tree |
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| Off again |
We've also had the sheep 'visiting'. Earlier this year the farmer whose field is on the east side put his sheep out to graze there. This was a 'first' for us as in the three years we've lived here he's just cut the field several times for hay in the summer. A simple single [temporary] wire fence was put up to keep them from wandering.
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| Sheep invaders |
Last week the sheep were back, minus the wire fencing. Niall kept an eye on them during the day. Oddly enough they kept themselves pretty much in the field and hardly strayed over onto our property - just a little bit - for the odd nibble around our trees. The were very skittish and bolted back down into their field whenever Niall went out to the barn or woodshed. However, he did manage to sneak a few photos of our interlopers.
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| Just a nibble here and there |
13 comments:
Those dancing clouds of starlings are wonderful to see and hear.
We didn't get thym in the last house, but in the one before that they would cover the field in front of the house at night...after filling the trees and hedgerows.
The sheep invasion makes me think of a Dad's Army sketch....
That's quite a mumuration!
You ought to encourage them to nibble controlled areas... it would save on petrol for thye mower!!
Isn't it a lovely sight, a flock of starlings coming into roost? You seriously don't want a roost on your land, though, or even next door. I visited one near Haxby with York RSPB - the trees were all dead, whitewashed as it were, and as for the smell...
I've only ever seen that starling flight once. But it's amazing, isn't it?
@fly - LOL! I can imagine it would :-)
@Gaynor - neither of us had ever seen one 'live' before; just on TV nature programmes.
@Tim - we'd have been happy to 'borrow' them as lawnmowers :-)
@Pauline - I can imagine the smell!!
I assume the ones we saw are just 'passing through'? Or are they here for the winter?
@MorningAJ - absolutely! :-)
There's an estuary near us where the starlings 'murmurate' (?) quite often, but not in the numbers you were lucky enough to witness. It's a stunning sight to watch.
I'd definitely be keeping an eye on those sheep..
I've only ever seen a starling flight in pictures, so thank you for yours. It's a very impressive sight.
But I see plenty of sheep around here and we too occasionally get interlopers who've managed to get through the fence. They make good lawn mowers. :-)
We had starlings here for a week or so and I stood for ages watching them. Fascinating birds! Hope the sheep do not eat too much of what you would prefer them not to eat!
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