I had a huge flock of about 200-300 Starlings on my front lawn this morning. So I go downstairs to my new sniping position and see 3 Starlings in the back eating the cat food. I get the 850 and find one in my crosshairs and down "he" goes. I can identify male from female Starlings now
I go outside to take some pics but brought the 850 with me in case any of them were hanging out in the trees. This was a big mistake. The CO2 got very cold very fast because it was in the 20's out and the wind was blowing >20mph.
About 10-15min. later after I went back inside 2 more come. I pick one out and shoot. The bird flew before the pellet got there! It looked like it happened simultaneously. I see the bird fly and the pellet hitting the grass right behind where the bird was. 10min. another loner comes - same thing. I shoot and the bird flies off a nanosecond before the pellet struck the grass behind it. The gun/CO2 was still way TOO COLD! I run to my chrony and take a shot through it. 462fps! Doh! At 18yds the bird could outfly the pellets! I think also because these 2 were sitting on the rim of the bowl contemplating whether they should steal a piece and were ready to fly off at the sound of anything. The 850 was truly frozen. I 'm not taking it out of the house in the winter again. Plus the room I shoot out of is too big to heat with the window open, so I have the heat on low just so I don't freeze
Anyway, I put the gun in my office downstairs by the heater for about 40-45min., take another shot through the Chrony - 587fps. Good enough for me. I replenish the catfood which was eaten in the meantime by the Starlings, and wait. Not long after, around 11:30am 4 more Starlings came. I picked the one that was outside the bowl because it was not moving much and seemed to be the lookout, plus it looked bigger than the others which looked like juveniles. It was facing away from me, so I aimed at its back and squeezed. The 14.3gr CPHP found its target right in the middle of the Starling's back and it fell by the side of the bowl. Then I look at the other bowl that had the bird & squirrel feed and I noticed something brown that didn't look like a Junko or Chickadee. I look through the scope and it's an English Sparrow! It's inside the bowl and I can only see its head and neck (this is a raised ranch so my floor is 2-3ft below ground). A few secs later the Sparrow looked up so now I can see part of its chest and took the shot. Down went the Sparrow and I heard the pellet richocet off the steel bowl
2 birds in about 15-20secs
I then went out with the family to do family stuff and didn't get back til 5pm when it starts to get dark so no more shooting for today
The Starling was a big female. Check out the pink-ish tint at the beginning of the bill. Males have a darker tint at that spot - grey/black. 1st one was male. Sparrow was male too (more colorful).
