Pic of the week 16/12/18
On Friday (14/12/18) Becky & I went starling spotting at Ham Wall RSPB reserve. For a while, as we stood in the bitter cold and failing light, I did wonder if we would even spot a single starling, but then they came, not in tens, hundreds or thousands, but, I suspect, in their millions.
At times it was like watching black fireworks as they bust into balls and spheres, accompanied by “oohs” and “ahhs” from the watching crowd. At other times it was like a scene from a Harry Potter film as a cloud of malign and malevolent blackness passed in a constant stream before us.
The scale was biblical. Wherever you looked, there were starlings, a never ending stream of whirling, swooshing and swooping birds. But it was not until they all landed to roost that the enormity of their magnitude became apparent. As we walked the not inconsiderable distance back to the car, we passed reed beds that were awash with blackness and alive with the screeching of the multitude.
It wasn’t as beautiful and mesmeric as I had expected, but I was awestruck by the sheer staggering scale. I still can’t really comprehend the magnitude of the flock.
It was a cold, cold afternoon and evening, we arrived early – about 3pm – the birds didn’t start showing up until 3.45pm. If I were to go again, and I would like to do so, I’d go a little later.