The starlings have taken their young for a day out and are making quite a racket in the dog field outside the flatThought for 6s
That’s a lovely scene — and yes, that looks very much like adult starlings with newly fledged young.
The noisy one with the yellow bill and dark glossy head is likely the adult, while the browner, fluffier bird below looks like a juvenile. This is classic starling family behaviour at this time of year: the youngsters are out of the nest, still following the adults around, begging loudly, and learning where the good feeding places are.
The “racket” is part contact calls, part begging, part general starling chaos. They often descend on grass, fields and short turf because the adults can probe for leatherjackets, beetle larvae and other invertebrates. A dog field is probably a decent buffet.
Nice line for a post:
The starlings have taken their young for a day out in the dog field outside the flat — and, as usual, they are making sure everyone knows about it.
This would make a good short wildlife diary post: “Starling Nursery Outing” or “A Noisy Day Out for the Young Starlings”.
I took pic on phone through window but i will tru for a bettrr one outside they are lining up on the fence near my feederThought for a second
Yes — that sounds worth trying. If they’re lining up on the fence, you may get a much cleaner shot than through the window.
A few quick tips:
Keep movements slow and don’t go straight towards them. Step out, pause, then let them settle.
Use zoom, but not maximum zoom if your phone gets very soft at full stretch.
Tap on the bird’s head/body on the screen to focus and expose.
Take lots of shots in bursts — young starlings fidget constantly.
Try to get the juvenile begging pose if you can: wings slightly drooped, mouth open, looking needy and ridiculous.
Also, the feeder nearby explains the gathering. Adult starlings often bring youngsters to reliable food spots once they’re out of the nest. You may soon have a whole noisy creche using the fence as a waiting room.
I grabbed camera but forgot to check settings so most images are blurred but this gives you an idea of the febrile activity outside my kitchen window
and then a big crow arrived….Thought for a couple of seconds
When the Starling Creche Came to the Kitchen Garden
This morning the starlings brought their young out for what looked like a full-scale family expedition in the dog field outside my flat. I first noticed the racket from the kitchen window — that excited, chattering, slightly frantic sound that only a group of starlings can produce.
At first there were just a few birds on the fence near the feeder, but then more and more appeared: adults with their glossy dark plumage and yellow bills, and the newly fledged youngsters in their softer brown juvenile feathers. The young birds were doing what young starlings do best — fluttering, begging, jostling and generally making sure the adults knew exactly where they were.
Before long the fence, grass and feeder area had become a temporary starling nursery.
A noisy but welcome sight
Starlings are one of those birds that can be easy to overlook because they are familiar, noisy and often turn up in numbers. But seen up close, especially in good light, the adults are beautiful birds, with glossy feathers that can flash purple, green and bronze. The juveniles are much plainer, almost mousy brown, but full of character.
This little scene was a reminder that the garden, the dog field and the surrounding hedges are all part of the same living patchwork. The birds may not recognise the boundary between “wildlife area”, “garden”, “feeder station” and “kitchen garden”, but they use them all.
And from the point of view of the kitchen garden, starlings are not just entertaining. They are also useful birds, feeding on leatherjackets, beetle grubs, caterpillars and other invertebrates in the grass and soil. A busy starling family can do a fair bit of pest patrol in between the shouting.
Then the crow arrived
Just as the young starlings seemed to have settled into their noisy outing, a large crow appeared — most likely a carrion crow — and the whole scene exploded into wings.
The starlings lifted at once, scattering in every direction around the feeder and fence. It was less a graceful departure and more a sudden burst of panic, with birds peeling away from the wall, the grass and the fence line all at once.
The crow may not have been doing much more than passing through, but the reaction was instant. When you are a newly fledged bird, caution is probably a good survival strategy.
The kitchen garden connection
Of course, while I was enjoying the wildlife spectacle, I could not help thinking about the planters near the kitchen window. A family party of hungry starlings is lovely to watch — but quite a different matter if they decide to investigate young seedlings.
So there is one very practical gardening note from all this:
Thank goodness I netted my planters.
The young lettuce, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots and peas are all at the stage where a bit of protection is sensible anyway. Netting is not just about pigeons. Blackbirds, sparrows, starlings and other garden birds may all show an interest in fresh growth, soft soil, exposed compost, or the insects around young plants.
I am very happy to share the space with the birds — but I would rather not share every seedling.
A small wildlife drama outside the window
The photos are not perfect. Some were taken through the window, and when I grabbed the camera I had not quite checked the settings, so several of the action shots came out blurred. But in a way that suits the moment. This was not a calm portrait session. It was a burst of real life: fledglings out in the world, adults trying to keep order, and one crow turning the whole scene into a flurry of wings.
Sometimes the best wildlife moments are not rare visitors or distant reserves, but the everyday dramas that happen just outside the kitchen window.
Suggested excerpt:
A noisy family party of starlings brought their newly fledged young to the dog field outside my kitchen window — until a crow arrived and the whole creche burst into wings. A lovely wildlife moment, and a useful reminder that the kitchen garden planters are netted for a reason.
explain how and where i use the ‘excerpt’ .. where do I insert the block?Thought for a couple of seconds
In WordPress, the excerpt is not normally inserted as a block inside the post.
Think of it as the short summary WordPress uses outside the post — for example on your birding homepage, blog index, category pages, search results, or card grids.
Where to put the excerpt
When editing the post:
- Open the post in the WordPress editor.
- Look at the right-hand settings sidebar.
- Make sure you are on the Post tab, not the Block tab.
- Scroll down to Excerpt.
- Paste the suggested excerpt into that box.
- Update/publish the post.
So for this post, paste this into the Excerpt box:
A noisy family party of starlings brought their newly fledged young to the dog field outside my kitchen window — until a crow arrived and the whole creche burst into wings. A lovely wildlife moment, and a useful reminder that the kitchen garden planters are netted for a reason.
Do I add an Excerpt block?
Usually, no.
The Excerpt block is mostly used when you are editing a template or Query Loop card layout — for example, the birding homepage where each post appears as a card with image, title and summary.
You would use the Post Excerpt block inside a Query Loop template if you want your post cards to display the excerpt automatically.
Inside the actual post itself, just write the article normally. Don’t add an Excerpt block unless you deliberately want the summary to appear at the top of the post as visible text.
Quick rule
Post editor: paste excerpt into the right sidebar Excerpt field.
Template/card layout: use the Post Excerpt block to display it automatically.
I got some clearer shots today as a pair with young were rooting around on the grass and verges for food.. the seemed unbothered by me but eventually one of the pair of magpies that hang about had obviously spotted them and they took flightThought for a couple of seconds
That first shot is excellent — a proper clear view of a juvenile starling.
The plain brown-grey plumage, dark pointed bill, slightly soft-looking feathers and long-legged stance all fit a recently fledged young starling. The second image shows the adult much more clearly: glossy dark plumage, pale speckling, yellow bill, and that purposeful “probing the grass for food” behaviour.
The magpie detail adds nicely to the story. It gives the post a bit of drama without overstating it: the starlings were relaxed while feeding, but once one of the local magpies clocked them, the family party decided it was time to move on.
You could add this section to the post:
A closer look at the youngsters
The next day I managed to get a few clearer photographs. A pair of adults were back on the grass and verges with their young, probing among the grass for food. The juvenile birds were much plainer than the adults — soft brown-grey rather than glossy black, with dark bills and a slightly unfinished look, as if they had only just worked out how to be starlings.
The adults seemed fairly unbothered by me watching from nearby, and carried on feeding quite confidently. But the local magpies had also noticed the activity. Once one of them came too close, the starlings lifted off again, taking the youngsters with them.
It was a useful reminder that this noisy creche is still very vulnerable. The young birds may be out of the nest, but they are still learning the rules of the neighbourhood — where to feed, when to scatter, and which larger birds are best avoided.
And, from the kitchen garden point of view, it was another reminder that a lively patch full of birds is wonderful to watch — but thank goodness the planters are netted.