Nature's very own stunt pilots
During the late autumn and winter months, large numbers of starlings arrive in Britain from the continent, seeking out the relative warmth of our island climate. And, as dusk arrives, the starlings set off for their communal roost in what is surely one of the UK's most staggering natural spectacles.
Flocks arrive from all directions, to form a murmuration of tens, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of birds above the roost site. As the numbers grow, the murmuration contracts and expands, swirling back and forth like iron filings drawn by a magnet, creating complex patterns that are both beautiful and a means of escaping airbourne predators. then, as the dark rises, the birds fall, funnelling down into the reeds with one last whoosh of wings.