There's a large and ongoing influx of Rose-coloured Starlings into Ireland at the moment, and Co. Kerry has seen it's fair share, with a record-breaking 11 or possibly 12 individuals seen just in the past month. Here, some photos of an adult (actually, they have all been adults) on Skellig Michael on 28th and 29th June.
The site was pretty extraordinary - the beehive huts and monastery at the summit of this majestic island, 14km offshore.
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Adult Rose-coloured Starling, Skellig Michael, June 2021 (Michael O'Clery).
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| Adult Rose-coloured Starling, Skellig Michael, June 2021 (Michael O'Clery). |
I'm not sure that this is a photographic 'first' , but it is unusual... Adult Rose-coloured Starling with Atlantic Puffins in the background. That isn't something you'd see every day.
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| Adult Rose-coloured Starling, Skellig Michael, June 2021 (Michael O'Clery). |
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| Adult Rose-coloured Starling, Skellig Michael, June 2021 (Michael O'Clery). |
A Rose-coloured Starling suns itself, by a monk's grave, next to a beehive hut. That's not a sentence you get to hear very often.
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| Adult Rose-coloured Starling, Skellig Michael, June 2021 (Michael O'Clery). |
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| Adult Rose-coloured Starling, Skellig Michael, June 2021 (Michael O'Clery). |
A beautiful bird in an extraordinary place.
