A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
I have a question for any ornithological experts in your readership. I live in Lytton West and each morning I awake around 7am and pull back the drapes to see what the day has to offer. On good days, I notice multiple flocks of birds varying in size from about
five to 50, all flying in a westerly direction. This goes on for about an hour.
I assume they roost in great numbers in town somewhere and are going out to the flats, where food may be more plentiful. It is hard to say what size the individual birds are, but I would think more like a blackbird or thrush than sparrow size. I have no idea when, or if they flock back to town at the end of the day, as I simply don’t see them.
I have read about and viewed videos of starling murmurations where gigantic flocks of birds wheel in the sky, in amazing patterns, before descending to their night roost sites. If you haven’t seen this, it is well worth Googling as there are some good videos available.
Ron Taylor
