With a free day between jobs I decided to call in at Llangwyryfon in Ceredigion, mid Wales, in the hope of seeing an adult summer plumage rose-coloured starling that has been frequenting a garden for several days. I find that rose-coloured starling can be a difficult bird to locate when they are feeding in back gardens.
I've mentioned previously that there seems to be a misconception amongst many birders that rose-coloured starlings follow starling flocks around so look for them on wires and roofs etc. with the rest of the starlings. However on many occasions this is not true. Rose-coloured starlings often find a garden that they like and stay there, not moving with the local starlings, instead when they are not feeding they disappear into a nearby bush and remain hidden, which means that if you don't know the exact garden or cannot see into it, you have virtually no chance of finding them. Walking around the local area is almost pointless.
So today I arrived in the village of Llangwyryfon, unsure about which garden to look in and to be honest really just hoping that a resident would spot me and call me over. I got lucky. I'd only been there 5 minutes when a SUV pulled up and the driver asked if I was looking for the starling, and if so I was in the wrong place because it was in her neighbours garden outside the village. I jumped in my car and followed her for a mile or more along country lanes and eventually we came to a couple of houses in the middle of nowhere. I'd have never looked this far out of the village.
The neighbour immediately invited me into his back garden and we sat at a picnic bench and waited. Within 10 minutes the bird had appeared and we spent a very pleasant 4 hours or so sitting and chatting in his garden, watching this stunning bird while his wife kept us well supplied with cups of tea and even offered me a sandwich!
How lucky was I?
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