It was a disappointment last month when the starling murmuration disappeared after building to 10,000 birds in mid-December. We wondered whether that would be it for the winter, or if they would return before they disperse off for the breeding season.
Strong winds over the last three weeks have no doubt made it difficult for birds to gather and roost in the reedbeds, however tonight – the first still evening in a while, we were delighted to see about 800 birds returning to roost in silt lagoon 6.
Hopefully they will stick around for the next 3-4 weeks before breeding dispersal, so grab the chance to go and have a look at them now. Tonight they arrived at about 16.00 and were still flying around when I left at 16.30. The best place to view is the public footpath by silt lagoon 6 (the last one on the left as you walk northwards), or from the viewing screen when they are murmurating over Phase 1.
None again tonight, for the second evening running. It has been a calm evening too today, so perhaps the wind isn't a contributing factor?
A quick update from today....no starlings! I wonder if the wind has become a major contributing factor to the roost location? It has been quite windy tonight, compared with calm conditions last night.
We will keep an eye on them in the next 2-3 weeks and see what happens!