Alan Parfitt led a late afternoon walk to look at the Starling murmuration at the RSPB’s Otmoor reserve on Sunday 29 November. Members were buffeted by a force 6 south-westerly gale as they gathered in the car park, but the temperature was mild and the rain was holding off. The hedges around the reserve were laden with berries – sloes, rosehips and hawthorn berries. They provided a welcome shelter from the wind, and the group had a good view of a Goldfinch that was sheltering in a hedge beside the path. Small groups of Starlings and a single flock of Lapwings were flying over the fields and several distant Marsh Harriers were spotted flying across the marsh. The RSPB had set up a Starling viewing point next to a screen overlooking pools and an expanse of reed-bed. As the light faded, more and more ribbons of Starlings flew in, twisting together before dropping down into the reed bed. An exposed area of reed next to the open water appeared to be particularly favoured and slowly turned black under the weight of Starlings. More and more birds continued to fly in. From time to time, great flocks of birds rose up together from the reeds and flew round, before dropping back down again. Because of the strength of the wind, the birds stayed fairly low, but still managed to put on a splendid aerial display. As the numbers of birds built up, the chattering calls of the birds increased, despite being partly blown away by the wind. An RSPB sign claimed that there were 75,000 Starlings. Alan explained that the Starlings were at their highest count for the year and that numbers would drop off as the winter progressed. The Starling murmuration is a relatively recent phenomenon. The RSPB bought the first block of former arable land at Otmoor in 1997. After massive earth banks had been constructed to retain water, the reed beds were planted from scratch. The gatherings of Starlings began to build up from about 2008. As the light faded, the rain set in and the group headed quickly back to the cars.