Gretna starlings five years ago

My first visit to see the Gretna starlings was almost five years ago.  After yesterday's post I thought it might be interesting to compare with the previous pictures.  In those days I had a Panasonic FZ30 rather than a DSLR and it didn't cope well with the poor light.  Nevertheless the pictures are worth seeing.  I am told that the current murmuration numbers around 300,000 birds but that five years ago it was probably ten times that.  This represents a catastrophic decline consistent with other data from the UK and Europe.  The starling is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

These pictures were taken in January 2010 at a gathering point and give some idea of the vast numbers.

Starling murmuration at Gretna

So yesterday I slipped across the border to see the starlings dance at Gretna.  The position of the roost varies each winter and more often.  At present it is south of Rigg about 3km west of Gretna.  The starlings start grouping in trees and on wires around sunset.

They seem to have a particular liking for this pylon.

Then all at once they fly off to begin the dance.  Thousands more fly in to join the group.

It begins as a sinuous back and forth cigar shaped movement which goes on as the light fades.

Eventually the shapes get more and more complex.

At last they dive down into the roost in almost complete darkness an hour after sunset.

Then it is back to the car to try to thaw out my fingers.