A NATURAL phenomenon that has become an annual sight over the skies of Poole is back to amaze onlookers.
Starlings have been forming dazzling displays of formation flying at dusk, with Sterte one of the best places to witness them.
The murmuration of silent starlings happens as the light fades.
The primary purpose is safety in numbers – with hundreds or even thousands of birds grouping together to fend off potential attacks from a peregrine or sparrowhawk.
Other reasons for the wheeling around the sky are so the birds can build up body heat before roosting for the night – it is also a social event.
When they leave the roost in the morning they split up into small groups and spread 20-30 miles, feeding in parks, gardens and on farmland.
Many of the birds causing such a stir over Poole will have travelled from Eastern Europe and will fly back in the spring.
One of the places thousands of chattering starlings spend the night is in tall leylandii near the railway line, at the rear of gardens in Sterte Road.
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