All About Starlings
Scientific name: Sturnus vulgaris
Protected By the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is on the RED Conservation Status list. Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Protected By the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is on the RED Conservation Status list. Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
I’m not a birder, but I like to analyse things, and I’ve been returning daily (13th to 21st Dec 2021) to watch the murmurations above Workington’s Siddick Ponds, beside the big Asda, and I can describe the pattern of behaviour.
Temperatures are still mild at 4C to 7C at sunset. The first flocks start arriving 5-15 mins before the 15:48 sunset, and the murmurations tend to perform at the north end of the wetlands, and above the bright car showroom on the retail park.
At sunset + c.5 mins, the flocks start landing in the reed beds on the west side. They are now chirping quite noisily, and they shuffle around, as if to find their own ‘regiment’ of family.
At sunset + c.20 mins the chirping stops briefly, then a series of successive waves ‘emigrates’ across the pond to the reed beds on the far side. As each wave takes off, the flapping is quite a distinct sound.
By sunset + c.30 mins, all the starlings are on the east side of the pond, c. 300 mts away from the footpath beside the car showroom, and they’re all chirping again. The chirping stops after another 10-20 mins.
Moving on to their dawn pattern; at ( 0832 ) sunrise less 30 mins, a lot of chirping can be heard from the far reed beds.
At sunrise – c.20 mins, the chirping is replaced by a brief silence, then a massive murmuration takes off, vortexes, and splits off in various directions.
And then 2-3 mins after that, the second and last murmuration also takes off, and after that, no starlings remain.
Thus, they’ve all gone before sunrise, and the dawn murmurations occur very quickly.
Hope that is informative; I have more details, if required.
Chatting with some regular dog walkers, they said there were far more starlings here before a cold snap 4-5 weeks ago.
With this wetlands being less than a kilometer from the west coast, it can give dramatic sunsets at times.
This image is of when the waves start to 'emigrate' across the pond, from west to east side
( Later, I'll screenshot a map and mark the 3 or 4 viewing points and action areas. )
Here's a small file-size video from my smartphone of part of the dramatic morning murmuration take-off
This site is the roost; it's where they overnight.
Now that I'm a bit more knowledgeable and know what to spot for; I have been seeing smaller flocks around Cumbria, either flying or on telephone wires.
They then come back from all directions to Siddick Ponds at sunset, and depart just prior to sunrise.
Some more details, as promised earlier today.
In the attached map/diagram, I have marked some spots with numbers and letters.
The location is Workington, Cumbria, next to a big Asda supermarket, from whose car park it’s a mere 100 mts to the Siddick Ponds wetlands; which is surrounded by reed beds.
The left side of the map is the sea, the Solway Firth, and bottom left is where the sun sets.
1 – is a two-minute walk from the car park, to a footpath, which runs the length of the wetlands.
2 – is on a slight rise; a slight embankment, which offers good views down the length of the pond, and for watching incoming flocks race past any sunset.
3 – is also at a height of 10 metres above the wetlands, and offers commanding views, and also across the retail park, as the initial murmurations seem to occur above a car showrooms. (see attached photo of this viewpoint)
( There is no point going further north along here, as inaccessible trees hide the wetlands.)
4 – is a great spot along the footpath to watch the murmurations above, and for when the starlings land in the reed beds on the west side of the pond, just 50 metres away.
a – is the middle of the wetlands, where the murmurations start
b – is the northern end of the pond, where the murmurations head off to a few times, before repeatedly returning to the area (a) in the middle
c – this is the reed beds just 50 metres from the footpath, where the starlings will first land
d – is the east side of the pond, where the starlings ‘emigrate’ to in a series of spectacular waves, just after sunset.
And (d) is where they spend the night, and where they do their two dramatic take-off murmurations, at roughly 20 and 15 minutes before sunrise the next day.
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Submitted Information:
Name
Paul Fletcher
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flecky21@talk21.com
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COUNTY. Please let us know the County the roost site is in.
Cumbria
What3words If known, please let us know the what3words location.
ROOST LOCATION (Grid Reference, road name/postcode/reserve) roost is in..
Workington, Siddick Ponds wetlands, beside big Asda
Is this a new location for our map, an existing location that needs to be show as active, or a location that needs deactivating?
Existing location
Murmuration Size. Small/Medium/Large/AWESOME
Medium
Location Details. Please give as much information as possible Including approx Starling numbers if possible, also where to go to watch them (pathways/car parks/directions etc )
Me again.
I’m not a birder, but I like to analyse things, and I’ve been returning daily (13th to 21st Dec 2021) to watch the murmurations above Workington’s Siddick Ponds, beside the big Asda, and I can describe the pattern of behaviour.
Temperatures are still mild at 4C to 7C at sunset. The first flocks start arriving 5-15 mins before the 15:48 sunset, and the murmurations tend to perform at the north end of the wetlands, and above the bright car showroom on the retail park.
At sunset + c.5 mins, the flocks start landing in the reed beds on the west side. They are now chirping quite noisily, and they shuffle around, as if to find their own ‘regiment’ of family.
At sunset + c.20 mins the chirping stops briefly, then a series of successive waves ‘emigrates’ across the pond to the reed beds on the far side. As each wave takes off, the flapping is quite a distinct sound.
By sunset + c.30 mins, all the starlings are on the east side of the pond, c. 300 mts away from the footpath beside the car showroom, and they’re all chirping again. The chirping stops after another 10-20 mins.
Moving on to their dawn pattern; at ( 0832 ) sunrise less 30 mins, a lot of chirping can be heard from the far reed beds.
At sunrise – c.20 mins, the chirping is replaced by a brief silence, then a massive murmuration takes off, vortexes, and splits off in various directions.
And then 2-3 mins after that, the second and last murmuration also takes off, and after that, no starlings remain.
Thus, they’ve all gone before sunrise, and the dawn murmurations occur very quickly.
Hope that is informative; I have more details, if required.
Chatting with some regular dog walkers, they said there were far more starlings here before a cold snap 4-5 weeks ago.
Temperatures are still mild at 4C to 7C at sunset. The first flocks start arriving 5-15 mins before the 15:48 sunset, and the murmurations tend to perform at the north end of the wetlands, and above the bright car showroom on the retail park.
At sunset + c.5 mins, the flocks start landing in the reed beds on the west side. They are now chirping quite noisily, and they shuffle around, as if to find their own ‘regiment’ of family.
At sunset + c.20 mins the chirping stops briefly, then a series of successive waves ‘emigrates’ across the pond to the reed beds on the far side. As each wave takes off, the flapping is quite a distinct sound.
By sunset + c.30 mins, all the starlings are on the east side of the pond, c. 300 mts away from the footpath beside the car showroom, and they’re all chirping again. The chirping stops after another 10-20 mins.
Moving on to their dawn pattern; at ( 0832 ) sunrise less 30 mins, a lot of chirping can be heard from the far reed beds.
At sunrise – c.20 mins, the chirping is replaced by a brief silence, then a massive murmuration takes off, vortexes, and splits off in various directions.
And then 2-3 mins after that, the second and last murmuration also takes off, and after that, no starlings remain.
Thus, they’ve all gone before sunrise, and the dawn murmurations occur very quickly.
Hope that is informative; I have more details, if required.
Chatting with some regular dog walkers, they said there were far more starlings here before a cold snap 4-5 weeks ago.
With this wetlands being less than a kilometer from the west coast, it can give dramatic sunsets at times.
This image is of when the waves start to 'emigrate' across the pond, from west to east side
( Later, I'll screenshot a map and mark the 3 or 4 viewing points and action areas. )
Here's a small file-size video from my smartphone of part of the dramatic morning murmuration take-off
This site is the roost; it's where they overnight.
Now that I'm a bit more knowledgeable and know what to spot for; I have been seeing smaller flocks around Cumbria, either flying or on telephone wires.
They then come back from all directions to Siddick Ponds at sunset, and depart just prior to sunrise.
Some more details, as promised earlier today.
In the attached map/diagram, I have marked some spots with numbers and letters.
The location is Workington, Cumbria, next to a big Asda supermarket, from whose car park it’s a mere 100 mts to the Siddick Ponds wetlands; which is surrounded by reed beds.
The left side of the map is the sea, the Solway Firth, and bottom left is where the sun sets.
1 – is a two-minute walk from the car park, to a footpath, which runs the length of the wetlands.
2 – is on a slight rise; a slight embankment, which offers good views down the length of the pond, and for watching incoming flocks race past any sunset.
3 – is also at a height of 10 metres above the wetlands, and offers commanding views, and also across the retail park, as the initial murmurations seem to occur above a car showrooms. (see attached photo of this viewpoint)
( There is no point going further north along here, as inaccessible trees hide the wetlands.)
4 – is a great spot along the footpath to watch the murmurations above, and for when the starlings land in the reed beds on the west side of the pond, just 50 metres away.
a – is the middle of the wetlands, where the murmurations start
b – is the northern end of the pond, where the murmurations head off to a few times, before repeatedly returning to the area (a) in the middle
c – this is the reed beds just 50 metres from the footpath, where the starlings will first land
d – is the east side of the pond, where the starlings ‘emigrate’ to in a series of spectacular waves, just after sunset.
And (d) is where they spend the night, and where they do their two dramatic take-off murmurations, at roughly 20 and 15 minutes before sunrise the next day.
You've just received a new submission to your .
Mark as Spam
Submitted Information:
Name
Paul Fletcher
Email (Not required)
flecky21@talk21.com
Can we store your email address and contact you about the map in the future? We will only email you a few times a year at most.
YES
COUNTY. Please let us know the County the roost site is in.
Cumbria
What3words If known, please let us know the what3words location.
ROOST LOCATION (Grid Reference, road name/postcode/reserve) roost is in..
Workington, Siddick Ponds wetlands, beside big Asda
Is this a new location for our map, an existing location that needs to be show as active, or a location that needs deactivating?
Existing location
Murmuration Size. Small/Medium/Large/AWESOME
Medium
Location Details. Please give as much information as possible Including approx Starling numbers if possible, also where to go to watch them (pathways/car parks/directions etc )
Me again.
I’m not a birder, but I like to analyse things, and I’ve been returning daily (13th to 21st Dec 2021) to watch the murmurations above Workington’s Siddick Ponds, beside the big Asda, and I can describe the pattern of behaviour.
Temperatures are still mild at 4C to 7C at sunset. The first flocks start arriving 5-15 mins before the 15:48 sunset, and the murmurations tend to perform at the north end of the wetlands, and above the bright car showroom on the retail park.
At sunset + c.5 mins, the flocks start landing in the reed beds on the west side. They are now chirping quite noisily, and they shuffle around, as if to find their own ‘regiment’ of family.
At sunset + c.20 mins the chirping stops briefly, then a series of successive waves ‘emigrates’ across the pond to the reed beds on the far side. As each wave takes off, the flapping is quite a distinct sound.
By sunset + c.30 mins, all the starlings are on the east side of the pond, c. 300 mts away from the footpath beside the car showroom, and they’re all chirping again. The chirping stops after another 10-20 mins.
Moving on to their dawn pattern; at ( 0832 ) sunrise less 30 mins, a lot of chirping can be heard from the far reed beds.
At sunrise – c.20 mins, the chirping is replaced by a brief silence, then a massive murmuration takes off, vortexes, and splits off in various directions.
And then 2-3 mins after that, the second and last murmuration also takes off, and after that, no starlings remain.
Thus, they’ve all gone before sunrise, and the dawn murmurations occur very quickly.
Hope that is informative; I have more details, if required.
Chatting with some regular dog walkers, they said there were far more starlings here before a cold snap 4-5 weeks ago.