Hedgehogs in the sky!
No, I have not been experimenting with hallucinogens
… but as the picture shows, I have seen a hedgehog up in the sky!
A few years ago I was amazed by the picture that Jarlath Flynn - he had been photographing the amazing starling murmuration and had been keen to capture them with the bright moon in the background. The result - a hedgehog!! He let me use it in one of my book about hedgehogs.
So, I was keen to replicate this … well, the truth is that I would be VERY unlikely to get a photo as good as his…but each time I go to see starlings dance I hope, just hope that maybe I will catch a hedgehog in the sky.
Okay - I should take a few steps back. Starlings, a bird often passed over as they don’t appear to be that interesting, are actually stunning. Individually, they are beautiful - but in a flock, over the winter (and it appears, early spring) they accumulate - roosting together - and can, if you are lucky, dance together in the sky in what is called a murmuration.
Why do they dance? Well, starlings live in the UK all year round, but over the winter their numbers are bolstered by migrants from Scandinavia creating flocks of tens of thousands of birds. Roosting at night, they choose to gather together, for warmth and security - and the dancing at dusk is a way of signalling to starlings in the area that this is where we are going to bed! The swooping, swirling patterns they make - which for us are just a thrill, are for them a way of disorienting predators - and the more birds there are, the smaller the chance is that it will be ‘you’ who is eaten! The same reason fish will form great schools.
For many years I have gone to the RSPB reserve of Otmoor to witness starling fun - it is a beautiful place, though there is a 2km (often VERY muddy - this is a wetland!) walk to the hide - where the faithful stand in near silence as our toes and noses begin to freeze. Sometimes the birds will just go straight to bed, no dancing, and it is hard to hide the disappointment. Sometimes they will do their dance somewhere else - with the same result. Though, it is never a wasted journey - last time I went in January there were no starlings but we did see two barn owls silently flollop by.
Because of the time it takes to get to the Otmoor birds, I don’t go that often. And this year they stopped roosting there early. So I had given up on starlings until November. But - my friend Mim sent me a message - she had heard that starlings were roosting among offices by the Oxford ring road - did I want to come with her to see what was happening …
Just a ten minute cycle from my home we were there, beside the offices of Oxford Biodynamics, with the thundering traffic all too obvious. This was NOT like the meditative retreat to Otmoor!
We arrived at 1730 and very soon a few small flocks started to appear, swirling overhead. The numbers kept growing and they were RIGHT above us … this was the last time I went without a hat! Oh, and a quick lesson that was luckily not learnt from experience - don’t look up with your mouth open!
There were maybe 5 other people who had collected in this unprepossessing venue - and there was such a shared thrill that we had seen something amazing - the number of birds grew (I guessed to around 4000 but I am not an expert … though if someone would like to count the birds in my pictures …) and they danced and as they vanished into the line of leylandii that was their roost for the night, it looked like they were being hoovered into the hedge, so fast they descended - before chattering away and settling for the night.
It was wonderful and I was hooked - I told my friends. Two nights later I was there and there probably 30 people of whom I knew most! And again the birds delivered. Each time I returned I was taking photographs. Many going up on my Instagram. And all the good ones here on Flickr. I have kept going back and am now seeing what I can see - yes, I did catch a hedgehog (not as good as Jarlath’s) and a dog, and a squirrel - see what else you can see!!!
One of the reasons I love hedgehogs so much is the way they can bring people closer to nature - they are an amazing gatekeeper to the magic of the natural world. Well, I have to say these starlings are doing a pretty amazing job too, at thrilling people to the wonders of nature. I went last night, they were still there, but the reality is any day now they will disperse - head off to Scandinavia, find a mate, rear some young - and hopefully remember the fact that at this roost in Oxford you get a polite round of applause when you eventually go to bed!!!
Shameless plug - I have started writing a garden/wildlife column - but it is behind a paywall. There has been a lot about hedgehogs so far - the most recent piece was about the Garden Wildlife Health programme for example. If you are interested in receiving a top bit of writing every from 30 garden experts (well, I am not a garden expert, but a lot of my wildlife time is spent in gardens!) - sign up here.
Lovely!
I'TS AMAZING WHAT NATURE CAN DO SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE, THAT DOES LOOK LIKE A HEDGEHOG.