Stunning starling murmuration filmed in Scotland
The birds gather to escape predators, exchange information and keep warm in flocks of up to 100,000.
A spectacular starling murmuration has been pictured flying over the small town of Gretna in Scotland.
The remarkable sight sees tens of thousands of birds swooping and diving in unison, forming a rolling cascade of movement in the evening sky.
Starlings fly to Britain in winter to escape the relative cold of the European mainland and gather in flocks of up to the hundreds of thousands in the sky.
They are most commonly spotted just before dusk in November.
Also known as the common starling or European starling, the birds tend to roost in sheltered areas such as woodlands but they are also known to use reedbeds, cliffs and even man-made buildings and industrial structures.
The charity says murmurations used to be visible above Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, but today they are largely spotted in rural areas.
