A starling murmuration is one of the most impressive natural spectacles on the planet, yet one that many people can enjoy close to home. Piers in Brighton and Aberystwyth, Albert Bridge in Belfast, Gretna Green and the Exe estuary are just some of the locations where we can witness this daily event, from November through to February, before the birds head off to breed in northern Europe and Siberia.
Despite population declines and a shift towards milder winters allowing them to remain across the North Sea, witnessing a murmuration remains a remarkable sight. The Avalon Marshes near Somerset once hosted as many as seven million starlings, although numbers have now fallen to a mere half a million.
Bill Oddie noted their reputation as the bully of the bird table, while another observer likened them to secondhand car salesmen because of their unusually swaggering walk. No other British bird is simultaneously reviled and celebrated depending on whether we are looking at one or two starlings, or thousands of them.
Collection
[
|
...
]