Starling Trail

Today I followed the advice of a friend and watched the starlings on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset from a bench on the far side of Waltons (Heath) east. This evening turned out to be one of frantic restless starlings and beautiful skies.

The First Group

The first small group of starlings flew passed.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4535

Then a pause. This is always  an anxious time waiting to see if they will turn and will more arrive.  Will this be the day they move to another part of the reserve?

Luckily a huge group of birds appears through the sunset.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4532

Dropping into Waltons West

As the evening got darker and darker wave after wave of birds dropped into the reeds in Waltons next to the Tor View hide.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4736

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4794

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4795

The Starlings Have Landed

After 20mins most of the birds had roosted.  But a few are still arriving as the sky takes on its deepest colours.  In the distance you can see the birds dropping into the reeds.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5061

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5120

Fantastic Sunset

A brief distraction to watch the sunset.  Even without starlings the sky and its reflections were beautiful.

Sunset at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4876

Surprisingly more birds arrive.  In this multi-coloured and textured sky they were hard to see.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_4992

The Jump to Loxtons

The birds formed a long black mass smothering the reeds.  They were restless, and suddenly a large group of birds flew up and jumped over into the neighbouring Loxtons Marsh.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5249

By now I was watching by myself and group after group of birds flew directly over my head.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5233

The chattering of the birds, and beating of their wings, could be heard for hundreds of metres.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5260

Gradually, the birds settled down for the night.  It became too dark to take pictures.  This is the time to pack up the camera, stand still and just listen.

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5475

And Finally

Stay safe, see you in the morning!

Starlings at Waltons Heath – Ham Wall, Somerset, UK. ID 808_5485

Now, the short walk back to the car park with hundreds of pictures in my camera and a million small memories in my head.