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NATURE
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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Nature offers a window on global natural history, providing a unique insight into the natural world, the environment, and the magnificent creatures that inhabit it.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk
If you like natural history and you're interested in the environment, why not visit Radio 4's first ever interactive blog here.
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30Ìýmin |
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| A flock of Starlings in action. © RSPB |
WINTER STARLINGS
Arguably, the most exciting British wildlife spectacle takes place in winter, when thousands and thousands of starlings gather in the air in huge flocks, prior to roosting for the night in a reed bed.
Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson has been fascinated by starlings ever since childhood, when as a young boy he set up a tape recorder in his parents’ garden and recorded the sounds of starlings chattering on a bird table.
In this edition of NATURE, he heads off to a reed bed on the edge of the River Severn in Gloucestershire where he rigs up microphones amongst the reeds and then waits for dusk to arrive.
As the light fades, small groups of birds, ten or twenty in number gather in the air above the reed bed. Small groups join together to form larger flocks, until huge numbers of starlings gather in one enormous flock, which then morphs into the most extraordinary shapes before apparently being sucked, like water swirling down a plughole, into the reed bed, where the birds squabble and fight before roosting for the night.
Visually it’s a magical performance, but what is even more surprising are the sounds produced by so many birds, as they wheel and swoop in the air, dive into the reed bed and compete over the best roosting site, flying at incredible speeds through the reed bed to their final destination.
On hand to help interpret the Starlings behaviour is ornithologist Chris Feare who has witnessed this dramatic performance on many occasions. But no two performances are ever quite the same, and it’s impossible ever to tire of what is one of the most stunning aerial displays in Nature.
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RELATED LINKS
91Èȱ¬ Wildfacts: Starlings
91Èȱ¬ Science and Nature
The 91Èȱ¬ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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