This evening we went up to a farm a little way past Lily the Lovely Lamb Lady’s. The farmer’s wife had rung I the Dog Lady and told her that she’d seen our little blue greyhound and was pretty sure it’d been sleeping in her barn. Funny, because another farmer on the other side of the valley told us yesterday that she’d been sleeping in his barn. So unless there are little blue greyhounds multiplying overnight, this girl is covering some serious ground. We drove up to check it out, had a chat with the lady and came up with a plan for tempting her into a barn with some stinky sardines.
On the way back, the sky grew suddenly dark over the next hill, and all of a sudden there was possibly the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life: starlings. But not just one or two, not even ten or twenty, but hundreds and thousands of them, all swirling and dancing in the dusk in one enormous twisting tornado. Hubby and I were completely entranced and sat with our mouths open watching this amazing display. They swooped and funneled in a way that made it seem like they were just one giant, undulating cloud, every so often gleaming as they caught the retreating sun, swirling down almost to the ground before twisting their way back up. It was kind of like watching that blob of coloured oil in a lava lamp. We got a picture on Hubby’s phone, but it didn’t do them justice at all and then all of a sudden, they funneled and swirled down to the ground, and, like a genie returning to its bottle, were gone. Magical.
Oh, and did you know that the official name for this gathering is a ‘murmeration’? Nope? Well you do now.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
February 14th, 2008 at 1:11 am
February 14th, 2008 at 1:20 am
February 14th, 2008 at 3:36 am
February 14th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Any news on the small blue one?
February 14th, 2008 at 11:35 am
February 14th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
June: Yes, the sun was just going down. It was a beautiful day yesterday too - t shirt weather in the North of Ireland in Feb is pretty unheard of!
Moon: I love that one. Classic! How’s the basement lodging going? x
Jen: I know, amazing. Nope, so many sightings yet not a glimmer. I really thought the guy that said she was sleeping in his barn would just be able to shut the door, but apparently he can’t catch her. Difficult when you’re dealing with people you don’t know, too :0(
Ruth: My heroine! Thanks, I’m working on it! xx
February 14th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
February 14th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
February 14th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Moon: I think the Americans are rather wise actually -they don’t want their basements clogged up with gingers lol. Oh and stop calling me a knobhead on Facebook, ye big bitch x