How many mealworms...

...can a starling stuff in its beak? I counted at least eight! 

Normally starlings only visit our garden in the winter, but this year we clearly have a breeding colony somewhere nearby, as up to a dozen descend every morning to hoover up the dried mealworms we put out for our local robin and hedge sparrow family. They're costing us a fortune, but I'm glad to see them. Countrywide their numbers have declined massively, although locally numbers seem to be picking up. 

It's been an atrociously wet day, after the short-lived heatwave, as you can see from the soggy feathers. There was certainly a lot of standing water on the drive back from Stamford...