I was at Shapwick Heath Nature reserve last evening and the sun was going down over the reeds making the tops shine gold. The picture doesn't really do it justice! There were wonderful bird and animal noises and a buzzard screaming overhead while all the wildfowl settled themselves down for the night. BUT.... I had come to see the starlings coming in to roost.... Last week I went to Ham Wall eastwards across the road and they all past overhead , definitely having moved roost to these reed beds at Shapwick. Unfortunately... last night I again watched flock after flock sail past way up high going yet further west - I assume to Westhay Nature Reserve. I can't win! It was still good to see them coming over in their hundreds of thousands, some in large flocks, others in long, long ribbons coming in lower looking at the reeds as if wondering where all their mates had gone! But starlings definitely seek safety in vast numbers and they weren't going to come down until they found the chosen communal roosting place for that night. I do wonder which one starling decides to change location, and why, because the rest all seem to follow and, despite being obviously confused as to why they have to fly somewhere else when darkness is almost upon them and they MUST be tired, they carry on until they find the spot where their thousands of friends are roosting.
