A rising murmur

Cycling home last night, I was treated to my first glimpse of gathering starlings - a taste of the autumn and winter to come.

It was about 7 pm, dusk falling early with heavy rain on the way. A cloud of birds appeared over Oxholme Lake:

Through the autumn and winter evenings, starlings flock like this all over the UK. The gatherings, called 'murmurations', are huge - it's one of nature's real spectacles. They swoop and turn, thousands of birds at a time, perfectly coordinated, until finally they drop out of the sky to roost in the reedbeds or woodlands below. There's safety in numbers and also warmth through the cold dark nights.

The flock I was watching last night swelled in size as little groups came winging in one by one from all points of the compass to join the dance. I was transfixed. And fingers crossed this is only the beginning! In previous years there's been a murmuration 5-8,000 birds strong here at Fen Drayton Lakes. This article includes a video of the murmuration here, much more evocative than words or photos can be.

There's no knowing how many starlings will choose to roost here this year, or where exactly. So keep your eyes on the blog - and the skies - and we'll wait and see how the autumn unfolds together.