All though this year I have been seeing larger than normal Starling
aggregations along Drake Brockman Drive, Holt but during the last
weekend the flocks flying to roost have been significantly larger
than anything that I have ever seen in during my time in Australia.
The largest waves were about 100m across, numbering of the order of
1000+ birds. On Saturday night at least 3000 birds flew over while I
was retrieving the laundry. In a miniature way it reminded me of the
enormous winter flocks that used to pass over the (Old) South Wales
coast in response to extreme weather in continental Europe. One late
December day in 1977, while counting Teal and Wigeon at the Loughor
Estuary in Dyfed, I witnessed a flock of Starlings heading west that
took over 1 hour to pass over me. My estimate was that this flock
exceeded 100 million birds and since, this Hitchcockian experience, I
have always felt a little uneasy about starlings ever since.
Milburn
--
The Milburns
42 Bundey Street
Higgins
ACT 2615
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