Country diary: starlings hold a modest gathering | Country diary

Langstone, Hampshire: Pre-roost murmurations have been known to number as many as 100,000 birds, but many roosts are significantly smaller than they used to beWalking along the foreshore, I occasionally spot starlings picking through the wrack-strewn strandline in search of invertebrates, or foraging for leatherjackets in the neighbouring pasture. An hour or so before sunset, small flocks begin to appear, gathering in the sky above the coastal grazing marsh, or wheeling out across the water towa