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!
Source:
Boredpanda
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