Otmoor Starling Murmeration

I had been planning a trip over to Otmoor RSPB to see the Starling murmeration for a few weeks.  Most recent days had poor weather or I had been busy, but when it came to 10th January, the weather looked calm and bright, so off we went.

Sue and I arrived at the first screen at about 3:30pm. There were already about six people present.  I asked if any birds of interest had been seen to get a few blank stares. However once I scanned across the reedbeds I soon saw a stunning male Hen Harrier.  A great result as I had missed this on my previous visit a week earlier.  I kept scanning the reed for Bitterns but with no luck but did see a couple of Marsh Harriers, a few Kestrels, a Buzzard, several Red Kites and lots of Lapwings, Golden Plovers and small hard to ID passerines.

Then the Starlings started to appear in the distance.  Lots of groups were homing in on the reserve.  A short time later I picked up a Merlin flying up to intercept a group of Starlings.  I am not sure if it got one but presumably plenty to choose from!

A distant lines of Starlings appear in the distance (click on image to enlarge)

Gathering over the reedbed

The murmeration then got underway with spectacular movements from perhaps 10-15 minutes before they started to drop like stones ito the reedbed.  All that was left was a black topping along the reed tops while a few latecomers continued to drop in.

An amazing sight and well worth a visit.  Please take a look at the short video above.