A Murmuration...

 There's not been much birding or wildlife this weekend.

On Saturday the whole day was spent cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, inside and out in preparation for decoration next week. It seemed a good idea to make use of a dreary rainy day.

Sunday, JWR was away cycling, so we finished off yesterdays efforts and went to the tip etc with a load of stuff hoarded over the years. This reminded Jane that last week she had been on the A1 near Alnwick and saw  a murmuration of Starlings over the local industrial estate, so we went at dusk to check it out.

At 5pm in a strong gusty breeze, a large flock of Starlings were circling over the Council Gritting Depot on the estate. I now remembered that these birds roost in a huge poly tunnel type Grit store. By 5.10pm the birds were swirling and shimmering overhead in an impressive spectacle before diving under cover for the night. I couldnt guess at how many? Certainly 5k plus... These big flocks take on a different persona to the birds that make them up, behaving like a single organism as they weave about. At one point there was a rush of wings as the birds came low over head showing my newly valeted car in a cascade of droppings!  

I took a short video on my phone...