Marie Marsh,

Production Editor

Miles walked this month: 49

Seeing the ‘acrobats in the freezing wind’ on p11 took me back to this moment – 16.07 on a grey

November day three years ago.

Exactly 24 hours previously, we’d bagged a window seat at a beach bar opposite Brighton’s ruined West

Pier, waiting for the thousands of starlings to start their merry dance of a bedtime routine before perching on what’s left of the storm and fire-ravaged beams. One or two birds drifted in, and we waited for their friends… only to watch them gather in spectacular fashion around Palace Pier, half a mile away. By the time we got there, it was too late. So the next day, spent idling along the 5-mile seafront stretch between Brighton Marina and Hove, ended on the Palace Pier in time for sunset. For this. Not only could we hear the beat of their wings, but we felt ripples of air on our faces. We were in a murmuration, and it was magical.

Note to self: You’ll never make your fortune on the 2p slots.

We were in a murmuration, and it was magical…