Monday 20 November 2017

3 Consecutive Evenings at our Starling Murmuration

What follows are photographs from 3 consecutive evenings at our local Starling murmuration.  What seems to happen is that the Starlings stay longer flying into shapes on very still evenings.  When it is a little windier they disappear into the reedbed more quickly.  For photography purposes cloud-free conditions are the best.
Saturday's Whale
On Friday morning Jane wasn't able to take photographs, so she made the most of the Starling murmuration in the evening instead.
Large flock (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 Distant Flock (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 ditto
 The beginning (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 Starting to bunch (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 A Mitten (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 A Tighter Flock (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 The Sunset (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
On Saturday the murmuration started 10 minutes later, and art almost looked as nothing was going to happen.  However, Friday morning's Pat arrived, and then simultaneously so too did the Starlings! 
The Naith
 Paxman
 Large flock
 The Spoon
 Tangle
 Whale forming
 The Whale
 The whale collapsing
 Larger flock
 Swirl
 Massive flock
 Swirling
 Coelacanth 
 Thin Sunglasses
 Twister
 Massive flock
 Saturday's sunset
 Pink Clouds
I don't have any details of the timing of the flock on Sunday, So I'm simply including the pictures.  
Speech Bubble (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 Finger (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
Missile (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 Swirl (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
 Tadpole (c) 2017 Jane Robinson
Although the local Starling roost seems impressive this year, it still pales in comparison with the events of three years ago at Alkborough Flats.  The sunset was more beautiful, and the shapes were more epic.  You may see the full post Here
Squiggles from the cloud
 Pinnochio 
 Tighter Sunglasses
 Flying Saucer 

2 comments:

janer said...

Friday there was slight breeze and more swirling down and then up again. Sunday there was no wind at all they made more patterns but once they were down they were down so to speak! Both days the timings were similar 345 to 410.
I had to look up 'coelacanth' but I'm sure I'll recognise the next one I see now!

pony said...

We spent 2 evenings watching the murmeration last week. The first night was very windy and the flock didn't waste time in the air, prefering to bed down early. The next night was stunning and I managed to video 4 minutes worth.

When I have worked out how to cut the length, and post it on Facebook/YouTube, I will send a link to it.