Murmurations
The Somerset Levels is an area of reclaimed wetland around Glastonbury and Wells, which as well as being wonderfully pretty countryside is home to one of the most spectactular natural events I have ever seen. They begin to fly southward for the winter and arrive here at the end of October or early November and stay until March. We have a small flock living just opposite, who wake us up at around 5.30am singing at the tops of their voices, but they are very small in comparison to the murmuration that flock together on the Levels of an evening.
This evening, we gathered at approximately 4pm to watch them gather as the sun went down, and as we slowly lost feeling in our limbs, it was more than made up for by the sight of tens of thousands, if not more, of starlings swarming through the sky like a giant amorphous cloud. The photos don’t do the experience justice but they may give you the beginnings of an idea …
