Hitchcock eat your heart out! Bizarre image of starlings resting on a pylon is uncanny echo of creepy scene in director’s classic 1963 movie The Birds
- The starling were photographed at an old industrial site in Workington, Cumbria
- Every autumn, starlings from the Siddick Ponds reserve are joined by 20,000 that migrate from Scandinavia and northern Europe to escape the harsh winter
It is an awesome spectacle, although fans of Hitchcock’s classic horror film The Birds may find it unsettling.
But these starlings are not about to attack the local community. They were merely crowding on to a pylon to rest after a murmuration – when flocks fill the sky in a spectacular swirl.
The birds were photographed at a former industrial site in Workington, Cumbria, that has become a haven for wildlife.
These starlings are not about to attack the local community. They were merely crowding on to a pylon to rest after a murmuration – when flocks fill the sky in a spectacular swirl
Every autumn, starlings from the Siddick Ponds reserve are joined by up to 20,000 that migrate from Scandinavia and northern Europe to escape the harsh winter
Every autumn, starlings from the Siddick Ponds reserve are joined by up to 20,000 that migrate from Scandinavia and northern Europe to escape the harsh winter.
‘Julian Smith, parks and open spaces officer at Allerdale council, which owns and manages the reserve on the site of a former coalfield, said the pylons provide the starlings with a vantage point to keep a look-out for predators, such as sparrowhawks and buzzards, that are attracted by the evening murmuration.
‘The murmuration is an exhilarating experience, then they land on the pylons and cables before diving into the reed beds below to roost,’ Mr Smith said.
In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film, starring Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, waves of gulls, crows and other birds attack a US town.