Starling murmuration

If you look closely at this photo you should just be able to see a rather blurred and distant example of one of our greatest wildlife spectacle, a Starling murmuration!

    Starlings come together in to huge flocks from November through to February, many reasons have been suggested for this communal roosting, protection against predators e.g peregrine falcons (harder to pick out an individual bird), warmth, and to exchange information about where best to feed in these leaner times.
    The best time to witness this spectacle is at dusk,  smaller flocks start to arrive near the roost site, more and more arrive and the murmuration grows into a huge, boiling, swirling cloud of hundreds of thousands of individual birds. I took this photo at a site suggested to me by a friend, An old air field near Davidstow in North Cornwall. unfortuanately this time I arrived a bit late, the flock was settling down and the light was fading fast. However I'll definetly be heading back soon better prepared.