The Gretna starling display
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Gretna starling display by Walter Baxter as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The Gretna starling display
Image: © Walter Baxter Taken: 22 Nov 2008
The birds congregate at sunset, first in small groups and then in larger clusters, to form a mass of over one million birds creating elaborate shapes and patterns in the sky. Raptors such as sparrowhawks and peregrine falcons make an appearance to try and pick off a bird for supper. After an aerobatic display lasting for about 20 minutes, the starlings move towards a conifer plantation where they roost for the night. Viewed from the B7076 near Gretna where many people had gathered to witness one of the most stunning spectacles in nature.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.012737
Longitude
-3.079426