In pictures: Starlings' dusk ritual

Published on Wednesday 28 October 2009 10:53

SWOOPING and swarming as dusk begins to fall, it looks like a cloud bringing warning of a gathering storm.

But these images capture one of nature's most beautiful and mysterious spectacles – the murmuration of starlings.

The pictures, captured by Scotsman photographer Jane Barlow, reveal a group of birds tens of thousands strong, each synchronising their movements to create a curious ballet in the skies above Gretna.

The ever-changing cloud of rushing wings creates elaborate patterns as the birds search for somewhere safe to roost for the night, sheltered from the blustery winds.

The phenomenon – which has been likened to a tornado or plumes of smoke – occurs as migratory starlings come to Scotland's milder climate after months spent in north-east Europe.

Steve Cassels, who runs the Alexander House guesthouse in Gretna Green, said that with many people travelling from south of the Border to witness the event, the "starlings are good business".

Quite why the starlings perform their dramatic ritual remains unclear.

"It's clearly an important social function," said the RSPB's Keith Morton. "Safety in numbers is one aspect of it. Another issue is the birds don't like the cold, so forming these flocks is a form of thermal conservation."