Beautiful and scary sometimes go together… Women, rope bridges, women… er, women, oh, and starlings. Watch this short beautiful and slightly scary video.
Thanks to Frances (& Helen) for telling me about that murmuration over a river in Ireland. I think it was filmed by Sophie Windsor Clive, about whom there is more here.
Meanwhile, while we’re on the subject of birds and water, here are The Laws of Duck. (Though The Duck of Indeed may have some strong words to say on them.)
Duck Law No. 1
– If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck and swims like a duck, it’s a duck.
– Restatement: All things are known by their attributes.
Duck Law No. 2
– Even under ideal circumstances, no duck, no matter how noble or well-intentioned, can be an eagle.
– Restatement: All things must be what they are.
Duck Law No. 3
– A duck can pretend to be an eagle except in times of adversity.
– Restatement: Pretense and adversity are inversely proportional; adversity reveals the true nature of all things.
Duck Law No 4
– No duck may be an eagle until it abandons its webbed feet and bill for talons and a beak.
– Restatement: All things remain as they are until the attributes that define them are abandoned. Then, and only then, can they evolve.
Duck Law No. 5
– Ducks are noble creatures. They shall not be penalized in the eyes of other creatures because they are not eagles.
– Restatement: All things are honorable if they are what they are honestly, even if they are different from you.
Duck Law No. 6
– The greatest duck that ever was cannot fly as high as even a modest eagle.
– Restatement: If one would soar with eagles, do not swim with ducks.
Duck Law No. 7
– Ducks flock. Eagles fly alone. Ducks and eagles never mingle.
– Restatement: Choose company wisely.
Duck Law No. 8
– A duck’s quack doesn’t echo. No one knows why.
– Restatement: Sometimes there is no answer.
Unless you, gentle reader, can supply an answer that could or should be right…
Blackwatertown 
I’m all for learning from birds. Or whatever other creature you have at hand. Love, love this murmuration! I hope I get to experience something like that some day.
Goodness those birds looked like a cyclone at one stage! I wonder what river it was on?
The Starlings video left me speechless … we see this with small flocks here in Florida, yet nothing of that magnitude.
Gotta laugh at Duck Law No. 6: In other words, eagles and ducks don’t mingle.
Blessings – Maxi
Starlings, just show-offs, and all because they cannot swim and so enter for the Olympics in the formation swimming event.
On the other hand, if they can perfect their pillar of cloud I’ll follow them across the desert any day.
OMG! The video clip of the “murmuration” is utterly AMAZING!
Wheeling starlings are truly amazing. The total coordination and grace takes my breath away. It happens a lot over the River Lagan in central Belfast for some reason.
Women are beautiful but scary? How come? Surely under the beauty or plainness, women are all the same. I don’t really understand why men find beauty so intimidating.
Fair point re beauty & scariness. But I didn’t mean that beautiful women were scary. More that women are both beautiful (all the ones I meet) and scary (sometimes). Partly the eye or perception of the beholder on both counts I suppose.
Which probably adds up to me not understanding it either.
Love love love the video of the murmuration- what a sight! Thanks for that, emx
Gorgeous. I’ve seen it before but never in the wild ….Ducks might not echo but they make a mess of your pool pavers.
Quack quack quack! Shall send you a link by mail.
Got it thanks
Yes, I saw this last year but it never fails to amaze me. i believe it was taken on the River Shannon.
And PS my eagles fly and feed in a pair and my loons are in a threesome.
XO
WWW
Thanks for locating the starling – broad majestic Shannon it is then.
Fascinating duck statements!! 😉
The Mythbusters tried to see if it was true or not that duck quacks don’t echo, but I don’t remember what they found out. I should try it myself sometime. Maybe ducks can’t be eagles, but I was a wolf in a dream once. No, wait, I rode a wolf in a dream. Hmm. Guess that’s different.