{"id":19597,"date":"2022-09-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=19597"},"modified":"2022-09-22T10:29:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T08:29:00","slug":"top-six-starling-murmurations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/2022\/09\/20\/top-six-starling-murmurations\/","title":{"rendered":"Top six starling murmurations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The morphing motion of flocking starlings is one of the UK\u2019s most hypnotic wildlife spectacles. Julie <\/strong>Brominicks <\/strong>picks six of the best places to see them <\/p>\n\n

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<\/span>01 ABERYSTWYTH PIER, CEREDIGION<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n\n

You might hear them before you see them \u2013 a thrilling whoosh above Aberystwyth (Heol y Wig in Welsh). Clusters of people gather along the seafront, silently respectful, as the sky pales to lilac then deepens. Some 30,000 starlings swirl in from their coastal feeding grounds to roost beneath the iron-latticed pier. <\/p>\n\n

02 DRUMHONEY HOLIDAY PARK, LISNARICK, COUNTY FERMANAGH<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

Belfast City Centre hosts the largest roost in Northern Ireland, but a new murmuration was reported in January 2022 above a caravan park at the edge of Lower Lough Erne. The lough contains 40 islands and is also home to wintering birds, such as scaups, great crested grebes, whooper swans and wigeons. <\/p>\n\n

03 NEWPORT WETLANDS, NEWPORT<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

Keep watch for bearded tits and wintering bitterns at the largest wetlands in Wales, with a visitor centre, accessible trails and boardwalks. The reserve was created to counter habitat loss from the development of Cardiff Bay. The murmuration of about 50,000 is visible across the reserve, before the starlings drop into the reeds. <\/p>\n\n

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As the sun dips into the sea, starlings swoop and swirl above Aberystwyth before heading home to roost beneath the pier<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

04 GRETNA GREEN, DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

This mobile roost of about a million birds is usually seen just west of Gretna, on the border with Cumbria. The landscape here is sparsely populated, with forest, maritime and dairy pasture, coastal flats and estuaries. As autumn advances, keep watch too for whooper swans returning from Iceland. <\/p>\n\n

05 WHISBY NATURE PARK, LINCOLNSHIRE<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

Regenerated sand and gravel quarries are now a mosaic of lakes, grassland, marshland, scrub, willow carr and a small oak woodland, whose winter migrants include goldcrests, redpolls and grey wagtails. The park boasts a visitor centre and paths from which to view the murmuration of about 10,000, billowing like smoke above the reserve. <\/p>\n\n

06 ELLON, ABERDEENSHIRE<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

The River Ythan, a remarkably undeveloped estuary in the industrial environs of Aberdeen, is home to the town of Ellon, south of which is a 30,000- strong roost in Hillhead conifer plantation. Retired scientist Ron Macdonald frequently captures footage of the fluctuating shapes made when the murmuration is attacked by peregrines and sparrowhawks. <\/p>\n\n

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STARLING
Boisterous and gregarious, starlings are a bit smaller than blackbirds with a dark, glossy plumage that glistens purple and green.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
<\/div>
\n
Sky dance<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall journeys to the Somerset Levels to witness huge winter flocks of starlings swirling in the sky as they come in to roost. Watch BBC Two\u2019s Hugh\u2019s Wild West <\/em>on iPlayer <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

Photos: Alamy, RSPB Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The morphing motion of flocking starlings is one of the UK\u2019s most hypnotic wildlife spectacles. Julie Brominicks picks six of the best places to see them 01 ABERYSTWYTH PIER, CEREDIGION You might hear them before you see them \u2013 a thrilling whoosh above Aberystwyth (Heol y Wig in Welsh). Clusters of people gather along the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"100","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"100","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_100-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_100-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_external_id":"October-2022-100-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"October-2022-100-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000084061||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000084061||","purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"91da22fd-9e7f-40d1-a93f-fc46e9516d91","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[30],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-scaled.jpg",2560,2102,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-300x246.jpg",300,246,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-768x631.jpg",768,631,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-1024x841.jpg",800,657,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-1536x1261.jpg",1536,1261,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/C20RAF-2048x1681.jpg",2048,1681,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The morphing motion of flocking starlings is one of the UK\u2019s most hypnotic wildlife spectacles. Julie Brominicks picks six of the best places to see them 01 ABERYSTWYTH PIER, CEREDIGION You might hear them before you see them \u2013 a thrilling whoosh above Aberystwyth (Heol y Wig in Welsh). Clusters of people gather along the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19597"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20721,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597\/revisions\/20721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}