Mesmerising moment starlings morph into shape of a pair of dolphins
Incredible images show the moment thousands of starlings soared through the air morphing into what looks like a giant pair of dolphins.
The huge mass of birds took to the sky early on Friday morning, with the black swarm flying together in a whirling, ever-changing pattern.
According to photographer Paul Silvers, the breathtaking display lasted over 10 minutes above Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve in Glastonbury, Somerset.
“Murmurations” – the name for a flying flock of starlings – take on incredible shapes in the sky, contracting and expanding as one flock merges into another.
In one photo, the birds form what appears to be a mother dolphin, diving through the ocean with her young dolphin calf beside her.
The starlings at the top of the remarkable formation appear to resemble the dolphin's dorsal fin, while the birds at the bottom are shaped into what looks like a smaller dolphin's bottle-shaped nose.
In another photo, the starlings’ formation resembles the distinctive long neck and head of a swan.
And in a third, the murmuration simply takes on the shape of a wave, with the birds flying in a tunnel shape over the nature reserve, with a dip in height in the middle.
Silvers, who took the amazing photos, said: "I have been photographing starling murmurations for many years and have never seen anything like this.
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"It was the most incredible noise of wings as they took to the sky in synchronicity – it sounded like thunder.
"The waves and tightly packed formations of birds come together when a bird of prey comes on to the scene.
"It was an incredible display of avian aerobatics as a mass of beating wings contorted in to a variety of shapes – like an aerial ballet."
