Starling Cloud

The Starling Cloud is the name of a very nice restaurant that opened in Aberystwyth a couple of years ago, which we will lunch in tomorrow.  But the restaurant takes its name from a natural phenomenon that occurs in Aberystwyth each day at dusk during the winter months.

At around 4.30 pm today, we stood on the Prom by the seafront railings, 20-odd feet above the black sand and jagged rocky surfaces that make up the beach below, and focused on the Pier, which, as is commonly known, is the evening destination of thousands of starlings.  When we first arrived, we noted the seagulls and a few blackbirds that flitted about overhead.  The sky was overcast and damp, the ground air chilly.  A trickle of customers patronised the fish n' chip shop opposite.  Not really very exciting.  

At about 20 to 5, excitement arrived, and it brought a few photographers. A cloud of starlings appeared behind us above the rooftops that overlook the sea.  It didn't swirl for long before heading straight under the floor of the Pier, which juts out from the front and hangs roughly 20 feet above the black sand.  The cloud was joined by a small flock of individuals, and so far we weren't that impressed.  Weren't the starling clouds supposed to be amazing?  Another cloud or two arrived, and all the starlings habitually swirl, dive, and then dart under the Pier's floor, always in the same section of floor along the roughly 70 metre-long structure.  We were now impressed.

Just when we thought the parade might be over, a massive cloud of starlings arrived in the sky above us.  There were many hundreds in the cloud.  It swirled, swooped, dived, and darted under the Pier.  Another massive cloud arrived, and then another and another and another.  Each did as the previous starling cloud did.  Their swift, collective darting under the Pier's floor makes the cloud look as though it has been sucked into that space by something unknown.  The darting seems faster than the swirling.  One moment the cloud is in the sky, and in the ensuing seconds, part of the cloud empties itself into that sheltered location while the rest of the cloud shrinks and disappears.  The aerial procession appears so professionally conducted it inspires awe and the realisation that the starlings have rehearsed this procedure ad infinitum.  What is a marvel for the bystander is standard procedure for the starlings of Aberystwyth.

As wave after wave of starlings arrive at the Pier, one wonders how many more could there possibly be?  Then more and more and more arrive.  And as they get filed into the same spot under the floor of the Pier, we learn the starlings already there then 'move down' to make room for the new arrivals.  It seems there is tremendous cooperation in nature.  

With so many thousands of starlings flying overhead, the need to hold an umbrella becomes apparent. Birds pooed twice in Jean's hair.  Sam was hit on his back.  And just when Jean said 'lucky I wasn't looking up with my mouth open', Jess was hit on the mouth.  Only I was spared.  Our car wasn't spared - I noted no fewer than 11 starling droppings.  We drove off at about 5pm.  Not even sure the show was over.

A starling cloud swirls round the end of the Pier.

A small cloud arriving overhead

One bigger cloud, one smaller one

A large cloud of starlings arriving over the rooftops....

The starlings have their nests under the Pier's floor.  At about dawn, they reverse the procedure, heading out to their daytime destinations, wherever that might be.