Somerset starlings stop man's car in 'impressive' display

Jamie Kingscott said he hopes his photo will inspire more people to take an interest in wildlife

An ecologist who photographed thousands of starlings as they surrounded his car has said "you can't help but be slightly impressed" by the birds.

Jamie Kingscott, 26, from Puriton, was on his way to work on the Somerset Levels when the birds flew directly across the road in front of him.

He said: "There was several thousand of them. They were all over the place.

"They lend themselves to impressive photography. They show off to the camera quite nicely."

Mr Kingscott took the photo on his way to work at Secret World Wildlife Rescue

Mr Kingscott, who works for Secret World Wildlife Rescue as a wildlife release co-ordinator, said that unlike in a standard murmuration, the birds were very low to the ground.

"They crossed the road in front of me and then turned and crossed back over, so I just stopped the car and watched," he said.

"I fumbled around for my phone to try and catch something of it and that was the only photo I managed.

"Then I put it on twitter and it's gone mad, it has about 3,000 likes."

'A bit of a flourish'

He added: "They were really low, so less of the standard murmuration, but they did do a bit of a flourish to show off, and they came right over the bonnet... it was quite something."

Mr Kingscott said that he often makes a "special effort" to see the stunning winter murmurations, but the fact they "came to see me on my way to work, was quite nice of them".

"You can't help but be slightly impressed," he said.