I had been seeing on and off over the years items in the news about starlings doing their ‘murmuration‘, when they flock together and create a dance across the sky at dusk.

There are some places in the UK that get big flocks, and then I found that they flock (in smaller numbers) over the old West Pier in Brighton. The pier burnt down many years ago, but the burnt shell remains, and it creates a great spot for the starlings to gather and flock, and also a nifty backdrop for people to watch!

I missed out last year as I’d left it too late, and very nearly missed out again this year!
I kept my eye on the weather forecast, and although I knew the sky wouldn’t be totally clear, I decided it was worth the effort to go. As ever, click on the image to see the full size.

West Pier, Brighton, Nov 26th 2017

There are no guarantees about how many will flock, or even if you’ll see it as sometimes they just fly too low. So, while I was there I made the most of a nice sunset anyway!

Right opposite the old burnt out pier is the spanking shiny i360 tower from British Airways, said to be the world’s tallest moving observation tower.

Murmuration of Starlings, Brighton, Nov 26th 2017

When they start to appear, it’s a few small flocks apart, and then they combine to create the dark cloud effect, and it really dances across the sky!

As the sun got lower, the flock got denser. The light made it hard to get anything crystal clear with my phone camera, and my freezing fingers might have been shaking too! 😉

I’ll add more pics as I edit through them – as usual I took waaaay too many!
Do let me know what you think, and if you ever get the chance to go and see it for yourself, do it, because the photos don’t really do it justice!

‘Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
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