Starlings swarm over Poole

8:00am Friday 5th February 2010
By Jane Reader

SHOPPERS were stopped in their tracks when swarms of thousands of starlings put on a breath-taking display above a Poole supermarket.

The car park at Asda came to a standstill for around five minutes as people watched the birds sweeping and diving in formation.

Luckily one of the shoppers was landscape and nature photographer Rich Meston, who captured their antics for all of us to enjoy.

“I was out with my family getting shopping when my son, Harry, said: ‘Look at that’ and behind me was a massive swarm of starlings,” said Mr Meston, who runs Reikan Photography.

“It was an amazing sight and most of the people in the car park stopped and watched the display.”

Reader Rob Vincent watched the aerial display from his Poole garden. He informs us that the correct term for a gathering of starlings is a “murmuration”.

A spokesman for the RSPB said that late afternoon in winter is the best time to see such formation flying as the birds gather for safety in numbers before returning to their roosting sites for the night.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4909794.Starlings_swarm_over_Poole/
(Submitted by Mark North)