It was 3.15pm, we had been walking around Otmoor for the past two hours. The weather was cold and windy, the ground a mixture of ice and squelching mud. Even with 3 pairs of socks on each step I took was beginning to hurt as my feet were numb with cold.
We had spent the past 10 minutes in the Wetland watch hide trying to warm up and decide whether we were going to stay to watch the starlings or start the walk back to the car park.
In the end we decided to head back out to the Starling viewing point. We joined tens of people heading the same way. Couples, birdwatchers, photographers, families with small children, all hoping to see the amazing aerial display put on by the Starlings.
Along the path, small bird shaped signs pointed out facts about the starlings or many of the other birds, such as Marsh harriers or Gold crests that can be seen on the reserve.
As we walked, small clusters of starlings flew overhead, the sun began to set and the clouds cleared.
Groups of Starlings started to join together, some coming in small batches, while others poured in long dark tornado looking masses. They moved from left to right in undulating waves. With each passing wave the cloud of Starlings grew bigger and darker.
Then the shapes started to appear.
This one was my favourite – it looks like Mary Poppins with her umbrella.
The photo below is just a small section of the starling murmuration. I’ve put a grid over the photo to enable me to count how many starlings there were.
The middle square has roughly 50 starlings in it.
There are 70 squares which makes roughly 3500 starlings in this photo – and that was just a small section of the whole murmuration!
Appleton Wildlife Diary by Alex White 
Absolutely spectacular – loved watching that. Thanks for sharing. All the best. Keep up the good work! 🙂
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Thank you. Otmoor is a great place for Starlings
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Lovely post and some fabulous photos Alex. I’d love to witness a murmeration in the wild, it’s high on my wildlife ‘to do’ list. Your blog looks great, I’ll have a good read through in the next week or so
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Thank you for your comment.
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Hi Alex,
first of all I’d like to thank you for these wonderful shots. I’m a wildlife filmmaker from Germany and I plan on coming to Oxfordshire in January 2019. I’m just not quite sure if it’s worth the trip at this time of year. I mainly want to film starling murmurations. Can you help me or can you recommend a better location? I already filmed starlings at the German-Danish border this autumn. Unfortunately there were no spectacular formation flights. Check out my video if you like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET_ZRfxLkAw&t
Thanks a lot for your help.
Cheers,
Stephan
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Hi Stephan, It’s still definitely a trip in January to see the starlings. RSPB Otmoor just outside Oxford is a brilliant place, lots of people film here. If you are only coming to Oxfordshire it is the place I would recommend. https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/otmoor/. If you are going to other places in England I would also recommend Ham Wall in Somerset or Brighton pier.
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Great film clip
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Alex, I am visiting (from overseas) in mid November. Will we be able to enjoy the murmuration at that time? Is it weather dependent? Is sundown the appropriate time? Thanks for your blog posts
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Hi, Thank you for your comment. Yes, the murmurations are just starting now. They will definitely be around in November. Where abouts in the Uk are you visiting? Otmoor is great, but then so is Brighton and Ham Wall in Somerset. It seems to be weather dependant, but that might be looking at it from a spectators point of view. A nice cold sunny evening with a red sunset makes a much better evening than watching on a rainy day. But I’ve been on beautiful evenings and the starlings have just flown straight in to the roosts. I think they murmurate for longer when there are predators around. The starlings start arriving about an hour before sunset. Hope that helps. Alex
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it does help. thanks for that. i’ll be in Oxford anyway, hence the focus on Otmoor
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Ok. For Otmoor. I would get there about 3pm in November. It’s quite a walk from the car park to the murmuration watching hides. Although you can see them from all over the site.
The walk to the hides is well marked, but you can just follow all the people with cameras.
The car park is quite small and fills up quickly.
Good luck
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I’ve watched other murmurations and the choreography is just so spectacular. The extraordinary energy and dynamic form really makes the phenomenon so impressive. Beautiful photos and I enjoyed the video.
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Great photos, and I love the ‘Mary Poppins’ one too. Otmoor is fantastic. I look forward visiting the place again next time I’m in Oxford. Also, thanks for the follow!
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Thank you
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By the way – I’ve never seen a real-life badger (only road kill, sadly) – would it be possible to go badger watching together next time I’m in OXF (although I’ve no idea when that might be)? I’ve followed you on twitter (@teacherkristina).
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The badger group I belong to do a badger watch at Wytham woods which is really good.
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Cool, thanks!
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Oxfordshire badger group
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Hi Alex,
Loved this post, very interesting, We also saw something similar but didn’t know what it was called.
thanks for info!
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Thank you following my blog.
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