When The Sun Sets ......

At this time of year at this latitude the sun begins to set about 3pm and that is the signal for many species of birds to begin their Setting Sun routines.

Gulls, ducks, geese etc cover long straight line distances to get back to their chosen night time locations.

Starlings swoop and swirl in an elaborate pattern, twenty or thirty of them to begin with then over a period of half an hour or so dozens of other groups join on, until there are many hundreds of them. All knowing exactly what to do so as not to collide with each other!

The black birds in this photo (crows? rooks? I am never sure which is which)
had clearly decided on this group of trees for the night.

In other trees nearby, nests are beginning to appear but these birds are not ready for that just yet.