Starling Roost 30th October

A pumpkin moon. All pictures (c) Bark

 The starling roost is starting to build up to significant numbers and we estimated that there were around 50,000 birds coming in to roost last night. There were no spectacular shape changing displays but a number of passes by Sparrowhawk and Hen Harrier ensured that there were some exciting flushes by the whole roost. The birds came in from all directions but mostly from the east and the north. They settled very quickly, pouring straight into the northern section. The best spot to watch from is the flat area by the bank that separates the two halves of the reed bed. This seems to cause minimal disturbance to the birds, as the hedge behind means that people do not stand out on the skyline.
As the sun set the birds wings were flushed with pink as they wheeled in to roost and just after the sun had disappeared an appropriately spooky, orange Halloween moon rose on the other side of the reeds, accompanied by the murmuring chatter of thousands of starlings as they settled for the night.