The flocks of starlings that have been roosting here at Fen Drayton Lakes have now moved on, leaving just a relatively small flock of local, hardy residents.
Although these birds try, there just aren't enough of them to give the fantastic displays we were seeing when there were over 1000 starlings each evening. Where have the others gone? We don't know exactly, but they will have continued their migration southwards. Perhaps they've reached RSPB Ham Wall, where numbers have been increasing in the past week.
Roll on next autumn!
There has been some consolation for people who've visited in recent evenings, with up to four bitterns being seen at Holywell Lake reedbeds, and a couple of short-eared owls have been seen flying over farmland alongside the entrance road.