Today was a good day for Starlings. In the sunshine they looked magnificent, all trim and

Starling, Lytchett Matravers, Dorset, 11/1/12 (Dominic Couzens)

iridescent, shining like that new gadget you received on Christmas day before your grubby hands got hold of it. Starlings are effervescent characters, undoubtedly Myers-Briggs extroverts, spending much time squabbling and socialising. Today they were also singing, an early sign of spring. You might well have read that male Starlings have a blue base to the bill, and that females, appropriately enough, have a pink base – and just perhaps you scoffed at such a distinction. Well if you check the top left bird carefully in this blog post, and then compare it with the bird down in the bottom right, you will see that it happens to be true. Maybe all this boy blue and girl pink

Starling, Lytchett Matravers, Dorset, 11/1/12 (Dominic Couzens)

stuff actually started when our ancestors looked at Starlings. Or maybe not.

Despite the fact that it is early(ish) January, there are a lot of birds singing at the moment. I have already heard Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Nuthatch, Collared Dove and Woodpigeon, and there are plenty of others starting up. Funny as though it might seem, it’s actually one of the best times of the year to learn bird songs.

Incidentally, on my sojourn to Lytchett Matravers in Dorset to photograph Starlings, I also came across a flock of these funny-looking birds (below). I wonder what they are…  Happy New(ish) Year, everyone.

Waxwings, Lytchett Matravers, Dorset, 11/1/12 (Dominic Couzens)