Over the last few years we’ve watched our local flock of starlings grow from half a dozen birds clustering like rowdy teenagers around the fat blocks in our garden, to a group big enough to spread across two rooflines as it roosted.
While they might not have the obvious appeal of a wren hopping through your hedgerow or a robin landing on your spade handle while you take a break on the allotment, there’s no denying that a flock of starlings in flight is an amazing thing.
So we were gripped by the recent Autumnwatch footage of starlings on Aberystwyth pier – and, judging from the reaction on Twitter as it was being broadcast, so was much of the rest of the country.
So, if you missed it, here from the BBC is the amazing footage of the flocks arriving and combining, and the reactions of Chris Packham and Kate Humble:
And it wouldn’t be Autumnwatch without a few hidden cameras tucked away, would it?