After a couple of below-par performances, the starlings gave a much better performance tonight.
The estimated numbers had dropped back a bit from the beginning of the week, and the flying displays had been relatively short, with the flock dropping into the chosen roost site before early. Late arrivals flew straight in to the roost, like arrows, which was quite impressive.
Tonight, starlings began arriving at 4.25pm, building up to a flock of up to 4000 birds. They formed some great shapes in the sky, performing for up to 25 minutes, entertaining the people who had gathered for the occasion, and teasing a couple of sparrowhawks.
One sparrowhawk succeeded in isolating a starling, chasing it away from the flock. The starling evaded capture, and flew out of sight, behind us. A couple of minutes later, a single starling flew over us, heading to join the flock – perhaps the same bird, although we can’t be sure. Just when we thought there would be a happy ending, a sparrowhawk shot up from the shadows.
Earlier in the day, flocks of fieldfares and a group of 13 golden plovers were seen from the car park, as were two bitterns. Elsewhere, some lucky visitors saw a red kite; others reported six goldeneyes, bitterns on other lakes and kingfishers, goldcrest, bullfinches and a chiffchaff.