Unusual Common Starling roost @ Noordwijk aan Zee (February 27 2025)

Spoiler alert (since a six minute video is already too much for most people nowadays): about 10.000 starlings go to sleep under the solar panels mounted on both sides of the roof of the former church.

The entire show (48+ minutes):

Some midwinter captures from Salreu, Portugal

Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata) on an icy morning... (but don't bring out your skates quite yet)



The moment when you can start thawing your toes…



For my NW-European friends… A Non-Spotless Startling (Sturnus vulgaris:-)



Think he’s yelling something like “feliz ano novo!”, with an undetermined accent.

A complete list of our captures can be found on JMN's website: https://sites.google.com/site/juliomneto/blog

Year of the Sturnus vulgaris

One of the first two colour-ringed Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris today at the bird ringing station Hessenpoort, in Zwolle, The Netherlands. Ringed by Jan van Dijk.

In The Netherlands, Commong Starlings are rapidly declining. The reason for their decline is poorly understood. Sovon (Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology) and the Dutch branch of Bird Life, announced 2014 to be the “Year of the Starling”. These rings can be donated to ringers/starlings by the public: https://www.vogelbeschermingshop.nl/uitgelicht-natuurcadeau?product_id=827 They’re 8 Euro’s each, but should last a starling’s life time.