The Lincolnshire Bird Club

A family holiday last week at Whitby was virtually devoid of birds! However, our accomodation overlooked a small copse of conifers and each evening we were treated to the spectacle of c5,000 Starlings coming in to roost. To see them within touching distance from above was spectacular and reminded me of the huge roost that was at Roman Holes, Thoresway in the 1980's.

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago whilst taking a yacht from Glenarm (NI) to Ardrossan via Stranraer in November. Mooring overnight in Stranraer we took a walk after dark (after fish and chips!) along a large ancient disused wooden pier. Thousands of starlings were roosting on the lower superstructure under our feet and making an amazing din. As we walked over their heads they went quiet only to start up again afterwards, it was as if a wave of silence moved up and down the pier -- the Stranraer Wave!

David

Not far from Whitby, Grosmont to be precise, when I was down at NYMR for a bit of volunteering, there were rumours of a Black Vulture about. Obviously, it was an escape. However, when, on my last day there, when it was wall-to-wall sunshine, I saw something curculing up high. I didn't have my binoculars on me, unfortunately. I presumed it was the vulture, but when it's clear, blue sky with nothing to give it in comparison to, it's hopeless trying to judge the size. It could have easily been a Buzzard.

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Alastair Carr

Where there is a will, there is a way....