Sometimes in nature things happen that seem too good to be true, perfect coincidences that vividly illustrate the beauty and wonder of the world around us.
One such episode occurred over the Costa Brava, in Northeastern Spain, when a mass of starlings began to gather into a shape-shifting cloud, known as a murmuration. This phenomenon is a true spectacle, with hundreds, sometimes thousands or more birds moving and twisting in what appears to be a coordinated, single organism that can quickly morph into some startling shapes.
Photographer Daniel Biber from Hilzingen, Germany was there when the starlings began to swirl and twist, most likely the result of a predator such as a falcon or hawk being in the vicinity. It was almost supernatural that in response to the predator, the cloud of starlings ended up twisting and turning themselves into a giant, single bird, as if to say to their tormentor, “we are bigger than you.”
The photos have earned Mr. Biber a prize in an international photography competition, but he didn’t realise that he had captured such unique shots until later on. “Only when I checked the pictures on the computer later, I realised what formation the starlings had created,” he told the Daily Mail. “I was so concentrated on taking pictures at the time that I hadn’t realised that the starlings had created a giant bird in the sky.”
It was a case of patience pays off for Mr. Biber, who had tried and failed to capture the starlings in full flow before. “’I’ve tried to photograph the starlings but it never worked out as well as I hoped for,” he said. “’I eventually drove to the spot every day for four days in a row in order to capture them. I picked a spot where I thought they would turn up and picked a matching foreground and backdrop in order to put them in scene.”
Scroll down below to check out Mr. Biber’s incredible shots, and if you are a bit of an amateur twitcher yourself, you can add your own bird photos in the comments!
Sometimes in nature things happen that seem too good to be true
Photographer Daniel Biber from Hilzingen, Germany was trying to capture the murmuration of starlings for 4 days when he finally succeeded
“I’ve tried to photograph the starlings but it never worked out as well as I hoped for”
“I eventually drove to the spot every day for four days in a row in order to capture them”
“I was so concentrated on taking pictures at the time that I hadn’t realised that the starlings had created a giant bird in the sky”
“It took less than 10 seconds for the birds to create that formation”
“I realised that I had captured a unique snapshot, technically, sharp and in high quality”
“It usually happens that birds of prey turn up and the starlings then create bizarre forms. It can be quite erratic and completely random”
“A number of people were watching this display but they were observing it from other spots and might not have seen what I captured”
The incredible images ended up winning an international photography prize!
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