MY boyfriend and I had a bit of a heated argument this week. Not over the remote control, whose turn it was to cook or even who was due to take the bins out. No, this argument was over where we had seen a fantastic starling murmuration last year.

I was convinced that it had been driving back from lunch in Swinton near Coldstream, whereas he thinks it was driving back from a day out at North Berwick. This argument has still not been resolved but let’s just assume that I am right, as this normally turns out to be the case.

That starling murmuration however, wherever it may have taken place, was the most spectacular one I can ever remember seeing and it probably did not consist of more than a few thousand birds. I expect many of you will have been lucky enough to have seen much larger and more spectacular murmuration and can agree that it is one of nature’s more special events.

Late autumn and early winter is the time of year to witness starling murmurations. A truly magnificent murmuration requires a large number of starlings and so this time of year is ideal as the chicks born in the summer will have matured and add to the numbers, as will non-resident birds migrating to the UK from Scandinavia for the winter.

Starlings form large winter roosts to help them through the winter with thousands, and sometimes millions of birds huddling together. During the day they head off in search of food (mostly over farmland) in smaller groups and then when the light begins to fade they group back together in one huge mass to roost for the night.

By coming together and forming a huge singular “body” they are able to avoid predation by their main enemies, sparrowhawks, merlins and peregrines. None of them want to be on the outside, where they are most vulnerable to predators, and so they constantly bustle for a prime location right in the centre of the group. The tightness of all these birds moving together is what causes the incredible and magical fluid movement that we witness.

I watched a video recently on YouTube of a man out on a rowing boat at sunset filming the huge murmuration that was travelling all around him and low over the water’s edge. It looked truly mythical and that man has to be one of the luckiest on the planet!

I would love to hear your stories of starling murmuration sightings and where you saw them, especially if any of you see one on the road between Swinton and Kelso!

Remember that Graham Riddell will be leading a photography tutorial walk at Kailzie this Sunday (November 10th) called “The Art of Photography”. Be inspired by nature at Kailzie and get creative! The walk will run from 10.30am to 12.30pm and costs £25 per person. You can book your place by contacting me at kailzieofficer@gmail.com Rachel McAleese KLAWED Project Officer Kailzie