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WATCH: Timoleague starling video goes viral

January 22nd, 2018 10:05 PM

By Emma Connolly

A screen shot from the video of the Murmuration near Timoleague

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Large crowds are continuing to flock to the outskirts of Timoleague every evening to witness a starling murmuration that has been building in numbers since November. 

LARGE crowds are continuing to flock to the outskirts of Timoleague every evening to witness a starling murmuration that has been building in numbers since November. 

Some enthusiasts have been lucky enough to witness the six or so occasions that a peregrine falcon swooped in, in the hope of making a kill and now a video of the visual spectacular has gone viral. 

Footage captured last Saturday by Peter Wolstenholme of Birdwatch Ireland’s West Cork Branch shows the starlings outwitting and teasing the predator in a prolonged chase. 

Giving up on getting his dinner, the falcon leaves, and the birds, like a vacuum, are then sucked into their roosting site in a small pinewood plantation. 

Peter explained that a predator typically targets a single bird and once the starlings group together, they create total confusion. 

The murmuration will continue until the end of February, according to birdwatching enthusiasts.  

For best views of it  take the R600 from Timoleague to Clonakilty. 

After 300 yards, take the first right just after the grain store, go up a hill to a t-junction, turn left, and after 300 yards there’s a car park on left of the road. 

On a sunny day, the action starts around 4.45pm and on cloudy days it begins earlier, at about 4.15pm. 

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