Rare bird?

Well no I know it isn't, as a kid we called them "Starkies" so a single one was a Starkie long before a certain cop and his mate Hutch.  I am aware that numbers of Starlings have fallen over the years but they are still reasonably common.

To illustrate what I mean 25 - 30 years ago the school I was working at had many Starlings nests by the time I left 9 years ago I couldn't find one.  The reason I call them a rare bird is that I think I have seen a couple in our garden over the last 5 or so years.

I spent the afternoon with Kanyl and while we were sitting in the sun he laid a trail of dried mealworms.  Soon the Starlings were dropping into the garden with up to half a dozen feeding about 6 feet from where we sat.  Why don't they like my garden?

If you wonder why the bird is so small when it was only 6 feet away some dothering old fool forgot his 70 -300mm and was left using a  18 - 55mm!