ON THE WILD SIDE Cheep parking!
● WE can’t always get out to quiet, secluded places to go wildlife watching. Many of us live in packed cities and may think there is nothing exciting to see. But even places as mundane as car parks can have incredible secrets. Among the inner city concrete I have seen everything from waxwings to otters. Not everyone will be that lucky, so let’s talk about some more likely sights. A bird that is common to car parks is the polly washdish – the pied wagtail. Oddly, it is known everywhere else in its range as the white wagtail. But pretty much exclusively in the UK, the males have much darker markings – almost black – hence they’re pied. Although they are fond of water, like their grey and yellow counterparts, they are just as happy running around inner cities picking insects from streets and cars. They eat bugs so small they get overlooked by other species, so they always have food. The car park closest to me hosts hundreds of these chaps in the tiny trees nearest the shops. They huddle for the warmth and protection in buildings just above the heads of unwitting shoppers. Unimpressed by black and white? How about multi-coloured? The starling is probably our most common car park bird. It has a yellow beak in spring, a black one in winter, and boasts an incredible speckled body with oil-like iridescence. Looking at this cheeky chap can be just like staring into the night sky. If you’re not awed by the incredible feathers, then maybe their voice will change your mind. We have all heard their chirps and whistles, but did you know they can mimic too? Starlings can copy many other bird calls, and even human speech. So if you think you have heard one making a call like a ringing phone, you are probably right! They like to gather when the sun begins to set and roost in huge numbers. Starling flocks will start getting bigger from later this month and their numbers can eventually run into thousands of birds, all flying together before bed in an incredible natural spectacle called a murmuration.