Transition

This is the starling roost at Blackpool North Pier. The birds spend the night on the iron beams of the Victorian structure.

The tide is out and the encroaching sea mist against the setting sun makes for a serene picture. A tranquility which is interrupted.

The birds oscillate between two states; a phase transition - like liquid into gas. One is a state of self-preservation. The birds appear to think only of themselves and the flock is a chaotic, disordered, noisy affair. The other is one of cooperation. Predatory pressure synchronises the starlings’ twists and turns and they act as if they are one.

As the light fades, the oscillations subside as the flock loses members to the roost.