Starlings’ Score

Sunday afternoon found these starlings seeking refuge from heavy snow in an old weeping birch at Squire Valleevue Farm, their roosting positions reminding me of random notes on a page of sheet music.

Trying to “play” these birds, arranged on branches as “notes” on staves, would yield little more than dissonance and atonal noise, putting one in mind of Stravinsky’s “Right of Spring,” though in fairness, the birds perhaps more melodic.

Contradicting the notion of dissonance, however, is the reality of the starlings’ composite grace, soaring in rhythmic, undulating waves, surging, swinging, whirling, united against the crosswinds of winter.

Would that man could murmurate with such elegance and dignity.

Year: 2024
Location: Hunting Valley, Ohio
Limited Edition of 20
Dimensions: 13" × 19.5"