OVER the last six weeks I have been watching flocks of starlings building up. Ten years ago starlings were so numerous that the winter flocks numbered hundreds of thousands.

This is the time of year when our native starlings are joined by millions of birds from Northern Europe.

For some reason which scientists are not clear about, the population of starlings have declined especially in towns.

The traditional breeding grounds of starling is in woodland where they site their nests in a hollow tree. I found six starling nests in woodland last year.

Those of us who feed our birds during the winter should look out for sightings not only of starlings but also of house sparrows and song thrusts which have also undergone a difficult time in recent years. I never though I'd see the day when I wanted to protect our "shebbies".