Starlings continue to draw the crowds

THE starlings are the main attraction in Timoleague at present. Traffic lights may have to be considered as crowds flock to see ‘The Starling Show’ twice daily just off the Carhue Road. 

People from as far away as Tipperary and Kerry have journeyed to see thousands of starlings do their party piece. Just before sunset, the birds arrive at Carhue each evening. It would be impossible to count them, but a noted local ornithologist would have that skill and he has put their number at about 10,000 give or take a few. 

They perform a spectacular air show above O’Donovan’s piggery complex to the delight and amazement of their enthralled audience. Spitfires and Fokkers are only in the halfpenny place as they swoop and intersect so gracefully without any near miss. 

After their performance, they descend in orderly groups on to the grove of trees that act as a screen between the piggery units and the road. Following such acrobatic manoeuvres they deserve a night’s rest. They repeat the exercise again at sunrise. 

Amateur starling gazers wonder why they have picked this area of Carhue as their place of rest. Again, those who know these things tell us that it may have something to do with the heat from the nearby piggeries. 

Whatever the season, they are becoming a tourist attraction and they will be with us, we are told, until the end of the month.