Ilkley Baptist

There are starlings in town in large numbers, in the trees down Brook Street, and on the rooftops along Church Road, whistling and squeaking away. They are the monkeys of the birds world, noisy, clever and impertinent.

Twenty years ago, if you put the carcass of a roast chicken in the garden on a winter's day, fifty starlings would descend and pick it clean within minutes. Now they are much rarer. We did see the immense roost on the Somerset levels earlier in the year, though. Vast numbers making a sound like a giant fan as they turned in the air before dropping into the reeds.

Perhaps numbers are up this year. It would be good to see more of them.