Starling murmation

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davholla

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25 years ago I could have seen this in St James Park without any problems but sadly now days it is not so easy.
Where is the best place if you are based in London, is it Brighton or is there a closer place?
Any tips for photographing this?
 
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Can't help with your location but like you I remember seeing this in my city as a cloud of birds would swoop and climb near the main railway station ... today I am hard pressed to even see an individual Starling! Fortunately they are an amazing asset on the Somerset Levels and a regular attraction for many ... long way away for you alas. :)
 
gramps said:
Can't help with your location but like you I remember seeing this in my city as a cloud of birds would swoop and climb near the main railway station ... today I am hard pressed to even see an individual Starling! Fortunately they are an amazing asset on the Somerset Levels and a regular attraction for many ... long way away for you alas. :)
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I have seen the Somerset Levels murmations on TV. I have been told that the decline is due to Sparrowhawks (by a bird expert).
 
Living not far away from the Somerset levels (30 mins) to Shapwick it is a truly amazing sight to see. the you tube clip below does not do it justice haven't been yet this year but my daily commute up and down the M5 i have seen some decent size flocks already.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiGFBHSxGew
 
davholla said:
The BTO seem to think it is a possibility
https://www.bto.org/cy/about-birds/species-focus/sparrowhawk
http://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/researchhousesparrowandsparrowhawk.html
and
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...RvbWFpbnxidWR5dGVzfGd4OjczMTY5ODY1ZGUwYjNmNGQ
(I haven't read these in full yet).
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I do like the way they publish that rubbish and then claim 'make our science count' Its simple really...you can't have a healthy population of predators without a healthy population of prey. If the prey die out the predators starve. Thats true regardless of prey/predator species
 
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Starling numbers have declined markedly across much of northern Europe and the UK. The decline in the UK started during the early 1980s and has continued ever since. Recent data from the Breeding Bird Survey suggest continuing population declines affecting starlings in England and Wales since 1995. The cause of the starling decline in the UK is unknown.

Starlings are heavily dependent on soil invertebrates like earthworms and leatherjackets, and it is possible this food supply has either declined or perhaps become less available during dry summers.
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Source RSPB

Put two different experts together and you will get three different opinions! :D
 
Sorry can help with a London location. Plenty of places are listed online but none in London unfortunately.

Dave
 
gramps said:
Source RSPB

Put two different experts together and you will get three different opinions! :D
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True but if the problem was dry summers then surely 2007 would have seen a temporary increase in their numbers?
Anyway it looks Brighton it is.
 
Box Brownie said:
As for a murmuration I would love to see a large flock one, one day !
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Head down to Brighton Pier just before sunset when they come into roost on the old pier
 
Coming back from Glastonbury/Street towards the M5 on Friday afternoon, we saw lots of flocks of starlings headed (presumably) towards Ham Wall/Shapwick(?) to indulge in some murmeration. A few years ago, I managed to catch a sparrowhawk flying among a smallish murmuration - didn't catch anything despite swooping among them for several minutes. Unfortunately the video was shot on a little Olympus compact so didn't show much - just loads of little blobs with a slightly bigger blob in there somewhere! Low light was NOT that camera's bestie!
 
I like to see these flocks, seen a few around the coast.
 
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