FANTASY FRIDAYS: Murmuration on the River Shannon in Ireland

Video: Murmuration courtesy of Sophie Windsor Clive

One day I will navigate the misty shores of the River Shannon.  The chill of the air will penetrate my dampened clothes, cold fingers numbly paddling as my canoe traces a determined line through lapping waves.  And, as likely as not, gray and bursting clouds will pelt darts of iced drops at my frozen cheeks.  This is not your typical Fantasy Friday.  This after all is Ireland, and as nature dictates, this adventure will have to take place on an autumn day as dusk falls, and the cold and the rain close in.

Trust me, this one will be worth it.

Soon, the misted sky will swarm in black as wave after rolling wave shoots massive pointalistic forms across the sky.  A murmuration joins millions of synchronized starlings in a dance of utter perfection as each creature avoids the edges and the predators that lay in wait.  Each tiny deviation is hugely magnified by a myriad of tiny neighbors, and the next wave follows a rapid shift and rolls away across the sky.

I can take a little rain, frozen fingers, even darts of ice on my cheeks for a Fantasy Friday that includes about three million starlings.  Pipe in the sound of the wind and the waves and that wonderful music from the video, and this fantasy would mirror the utter perfection of one of natures most awe inspiring displays.