The adult Rosy Starling performed well for a number of birders at Aberavon, today. It was seen at around 6pm, yesterday, by Bob Anderson
et al along the Wales Coast Path next to the playing fields, between the mouth of the River Afan and first footbridge. This morning a check in that area returned only handfuls of Starlings moving from house to house, and dropping out of site into gardens. However, 500m away at Jersey Quay a decent flock of Common Starlings were gathered on the rooftops of the flats, congregating out of the wind on the sheltered sides of the roofs, occasionally dropping down to feed in the courtyard. This flock periodically fragmented and small flocks ranged fairly widely from here in many directions. After a wait of 20mins the Rosy Starling suddenly appeared, had a snooze for a couple of minutes among the sheltering flock, before perking up and becoming more active. The bird then showed fairly well on the rooftops between short periods when it dropped out of sight.
 |
| Power nap! |
Reports coming back from the site mention that the bird was coming to bread on a few occasions (thank goodness it isn't a Blue-winged Teal!), so worth bearing that in mind if planning to visit. If visiting please be mindful to respect the privacy of the residents at Jersey Quay. The bird does range fairly widely, though this seems to be a reliable location that it returns regularly. If keen to search for it elsewhere, then it's worth noting the full length of the seafront heading North-west from Jersey Quay often holds decent sized flocks of Starling, most regularly on the grassy areas near the various food outlets.
Jersey Quay is at the South-eastern end of The Princess Margaret Way, Aberavon
No comments:
Post a Comment