Murmurations

The starlings were the real stars of the show. 
We sat almost alone in a hide at Mersehead RSPB Reserve as the setting sun saturated the colours of the reed beds and hills, and waited. Then one group of starlings appeared, only to be joined by another, and another. Then small groups seemed to appear from everywhere, from the left and from the right and gradually a large flock of 10,000 birds was formed. The fun then began. At times they seemed to occupy the whole of the sky, and you could hear the beat of their wings. Then they flew over the hide behind us, only to turn around and fly back over again. At times they grouped together (as in this photograph) forming a dark mass, then they demonstrated the nearest thing to an Avian Mexican Wave, by twisting and turning in an orchestrated manner. 
After about half an hour of pure fun, they dived like arrows from Agincourt, at great speed and at an angle of 45 degrees into the reeds. 
And that was that.