One of Britain's Amazing Wildlife Displays - Murmurations
- Bath Insider Tours
- Feb 5
- 3 min read
People who know me, know that I am a big traveller! I love to travel and have been very fortunate to have travelled around most parts of the world. When I travel I like to witness the spectacular sceneries of a country, experience difficult cultures, try different foods and see local wildlife. Last year I was very fortunate to go on my first African safari (wildlife-spotting not hunting). I saw the Big 5 and had an incredible time. Unlike Africa and many other countries, Britain is not so well known for its wildlife. You have probably heard of the Great Migration in Africa - but have you heard of Britain's murmuration aerial displays? If you are fortunate to experience this, it is an amazing spectacle to behold.
A murmuration is the collective noun for a group of Starlings - a bird we can see in our gardens in England. They are a little smaller than a Blackbird and from a distance they have a glossy black appearance - but when you look closer you will see green and purple markings. We have a large resident population in England (although numbers are sadly declining) and in the winter they are joined by migrant Starlings from Scandinavia. During the winter months, just before dusk, huge flocks of Starlings gather at their roosting site and will sometimes put on amazing aerial displays before they settle down for the night. These aerial displays can include thousands of Starlings swooping and diving in uniform and in close proximity to each other - creating these amazing displays in the sky. Some liken it to a choreographed dance! The fact that none of the birds collide as they move together is astounding - in fact scientists used to think that Starlings were able to do this because they had psychic powers! Various reasons are given for these displays - one is to confuse any predators and another is for warmth in the winter months.
On Tuesday I headed to a small nature reserve approx. 1 hour from Bath. Their wetlands are renowned for murmuration displays and as you will see in the video below I was fortunate to witness this incredible wildlife spectacle. At first I felt despondent as I failed to spot a single Starling and then in one quick moment they appeared out of nowhere. I had never seen so many birds fill the sky - there were thousands and thousands of Starlings - it was an incredible sight to behold! Flocks of Starlings would fly overhead joining the larger group that was forming over the roosting spot making that flock bigger and bigger. Some say the reason it is called a murmuration is because the noise of the wings flying overhead sound like a murmur. It was certainly an unusual sound - the birds were so quiet that all I could hear was the whooshing of thousands of wings. Later when they settled down in the reeds for the night they all started talking (chatting about where they had been, what they had seen etc!) and boy was that a big noise to behold! I hope you like the video which I created from my footage, I recommend maximising the video screen to get the best appreciation for what I saw.
If you enjoy seeing wildlife on your travels do let me know. On my Bath tour it may be possible to see the peregrine falcons (the world's fastest animal) which nest in the city and on my Wells and Cheddar Tour we may get to see wild goats and wild sheep in the Cheddar Gorge! I also offer a tour where you can fly a hawk and/or owls! I do not offer tours to see the murmurations but if you are visiting Bath between December and February and you would love to see one do let me know - just remember, as with all wildlife-spotting, these can not be guaranteed!
I wish you lots of great experiences on your travels :)
Amazing sight. I have heard about it but never seen it in person.