Murmurings

Juvenile starlings are acquiring their winter breast spots already, and adults are beginning to loose their summer sheen. It’s a good time to visit Oxwich Marsh in the evening to watch the breathtaking gyrations of starlings before they settle into their roost in the reeds. Activity above the reed bed begins well before dark, with birds flying in from all directions, but the best time to be here is in the twilight, when hundreds gather above the marsh. Decades ago they gathered here in a flock, which at its peak, numbered many thousands. Although much reduced in numbers now, they still make an impressive sight, as a predictable sparrowhawk appears from nowhere. I don’t know if I witnessed a kill, but the incredible evasive manoeuvres of the flock pursued by the hawk are awe-inspiring. As the light fails the flock gradually breaks up, drops quickly from the sky into the reeds, and is suddenly gone, followed by a noisy murmuring, which lingers on well after dark.

I recall my years of ringing in this marsh, and the trepidation I felt at this time of year when putting up mist nets at dawn. On unlucky days, the nets would fill with hundreds of starlings leaving the roost, ruining my chances of a good catch of migrating warblers for the morning. On luckier mornings I would catch swallows doing the same thing.