A murmuration of starlings

One of nature’s spectacles and another tick off my bucket list.
And so close to home, Coatham Marshes at Redcar, in the shadow of the skeleton of the old blast furnace.
We waited and waited, was just about to move on to the South Gare to catch the sunset when things happened.
A few flocks at first which grew and grew, acrobatics becoming more frenzied. Tea leaves in the sky.
In ten minutes it was over, a patch of reeds selected for the night’s roost.

Surprisingly starlings have an RSPB red conservation priority, the highest criteria.
The species is threatened with a severe decline in the UK breeding population over the last 25 years.