Starling spectacular!

A big Boxing Day walk is an absolute must to gain some rest bite from the relentless waves of food and drink! So on the afternoon of Monday 26/12, after meeting up with friends in Oxford, Em and I decided to go to Otmoor, with the added incentive of the monster Starling roost. With bright sunshine and a crisp chill in the air, we set off along the long, muddy tracks towards the large swathes of reed bed at the far end of the reserve.

We had a look from both viewing screens, seeing a couple of Marsh Harriers cruising about, as well as plenty of Shoveler, Teal & Snipe in particular. A ringtail Hen Harrier also made an all-too-brief appearance over the reedbed, however I failed to catch sight of it again. We then settled at the viewpoint, roughly half way between the two screens to enjoy the Starlings.

It took quite a while for them to show, however by around 16:30pm birds began to gather. Before long, clouds of thousands upon thousands of birds were arriving from all directions. The murmuring of chattering Starlings slowly increased, like someone slowly turning up a volume knob, as a Bittern briefly cruised low over the reeds. The swooshing noise of incoming Starling flocks swooping in low of the reed beds was frequent and also so breathtakingly impressive.

With little light left, the numbers of birds finally tailed off and with freezing extremities it was time to get home!