Starling spectacle I

I’ve never seen such a large Starling (Sturnus vulgaris/Spreeuw) gathering in my life until today. These birds have the strange habit to stop feeding about an hour before sunset, and to fly to a common sleeping place (usually a reed bed or group of trees). They fly back and forth for about half an hour and make fantasy figures in the sky, especially when a bird of prey is present. The English also call this phenomenon very appropriate “black snow”.

* Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 70-200mm/f2.8 @ 100mm; ISO-800, f4.5, 1/250s; +0.7 stop; tripod.
* Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 70-200mm/f2.8 @ 170mm; ISO-400, f4, 1/250s; +0.7 stop; tripod.