Murmurations are huge groups of starlings that twist, turn, swoop and swirl across the sky in beautiful shape-shifting clouds.

Just before dusk, small groups of starlings from the same area come together above a communal roosting site. The group grows ever larger, moving in unison in an aerial dance that casts gorgeous shapes against the waning daylight.

Starlings are known as ‘partial migrants’: birds that migrate in some places but not in others. Our own starlings tend to stay put while those from colder countries in eastern Europe head to our shores, swelling our numbers during autumn and winter to form seriously impressive flocks.

Scientists believe that murmurations offer safety in numbers; protection from predators attracted by the sheer number of birds. After all, it can’t be easy to single out just starling bird from a whirling group of hundreds or even thousands! Experts still aren’t completely sure how each starling knows which way to turn without bumping into its murmuration-mates.

Murmurations always form over the birds’ communal roosting site. As the number of starlings reaches its peak and the last of the daylight begins to fade, an unspoken signal seems to tell the group to funnel towards the ground with one last sweeping motion and calming whoosh of wings. Roosts can be anything from a reedbed to a seaside pier where the group can huddle together for warmth and chatter about the best feeding grounds.

At Brockholes, the best sightings seem to have been from the Look Out, on the Guild Wheel path. The murmurations have been varying in size and length of time, but seem to be starting from around 3:30pm for perhaps an hour.

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