Murmurations at Redhorn Hill
On a Sunday afternoon in late November, a group of DPC members and some family members met on Salisbury Plain to see the Starling murmuration, we began the walk from the car park at Redhorn Hill to the gorse bushes that lie within the military training area and is the roost for tens of thousands of starlings that arrive from all directions to roost in their chosen location. Access is permitted to the track beyond the vedette post if the military are not training and this was the last no training day until mid-December. From around 15 minutes before sunset the large flocks of starlings began to arrive and although they didn’t “dance” too much they were still a spectacle to behold, and we were treated to a beautiful orange sunset.
Starlings are known as ‘partial migrants’: birds that migrate in some places not others. Our own starlings tend to stay put while those from colder countries in Eastern Europe head to ur shores, swelling our numbers during autumn and winter to form seriously impressive flocks. As dusk falls the starlings from a large area come together to a communal roost and often fly in unison in an arial dance that casts gorgeous shapes against the waining light.
Note: The roost has now moved further into the training area and is difficult to see at all unless access is permitted to the range road.
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