Sound Escape 96: The astounding sounds of a starling murmuration

The Plodcast · Dec 23, 2022 · 9m

We're at Ham Wall in Somerset for the great starling murmuration. At first they come in small flocks, barely discernible against the winter sky. But as the light begins to fade, their numbers strengthen; a thousand here, two thousand there. They gather like mercury, then split and bind again, growing ever larger until soon there are half a million of them throwing forms across the sky. A strand suddenly breaks free, plummeting into the reedbeds, and the rest follow. The sound absorbs you. Image by Getty. BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside…