Rare starling spotted in Burnley

Birdwatchers have been flocking to a quiet little avenue in Burnley hoping to catch a glimpse of a rare starling.
Rare starlingRare starling
Rare starling

The rose-coloured starling, of which there have only been 10 sightings in the UK, was first spotted on Wednesday, June 25th, by Mr Stuart Giles on his garden feeder in Essex Avenue.

Mr Giles said: “I was sat at home looking out of the window into the garden when I noticed this odd pink looking bird sat on my feeder; as luck would have it I had my camera near by and I managed to get a few quick snaps of it before it flew off. I’ve always had a bit of an interest in birds and wildlife in general and was recently given a bird book by my brother-in-law; who himself is a keen birdwatcher.

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“I knew it was something different so I started trawling through the book and soon came across a perfect match for my little pink garden bird – an adult, rose-coloured starling. I then tried to contact my brother-in-law to tell him about my find; but unfortunately it wasn’t until Friday that I finally got hold of him.”

As soon as Mr Russell Carter saw the picture he said, “yep, it’s a rose-coloured starling” and soon started to search the surrounding area.

Mr Carter finally relocated the elusive bird, which has never been spotted in East Lancashire before, on Saturday evening sitting on the fence line of Lockyer Avenue playing fields.

“After locating the bird I quickly phoned a few local birders to tell them I’d relocated the starling,” said Mr Carter. “Within 15 minutes people started to arrive. Unfortunately only two others managed to connect with the starling before it once again disappeared.”

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The Rosy Starling, as it is more commonly known in its native homeland of Central and Eastern Europe, was again spotted on Mr Giles’s feeder on Sunday before it flew off to Lockyer Avenue playing fields where it was seen by numerous birdwatchers.

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