LAST week I was driving to North Wales on a day of sweeping rain and high wind.

As dawn broke I saw a flock of thousands of starlings circling around and battling with the elements.

I have not seen an aerobatic display for more than ten years.

In the 1990s starlings were a real pest all over Britain but East Lancashire was inundated.

Blackburn Cathedral had a roost of many thousand birds; woodlands around Bacup, Barley and elsewhere were badly damaged by the sheer weight and also their droppings were killing plants.

All bird droppings contain high levels of bacteria and perhaps a few nasty viruses.

Concern was expressed in towns and cities that starlings would have to be "controlled."

It is amazing how often Nature takes a hand and in recent years the starling has declined very rapidly and in some areas it has become quite rare.

Nature also works on cycles with a decline then followed by an increase.

This sighting of a huge flock of starlings even as far away as North Wales might be a sign of things to come.

I would be interested to hear from any reader who sees or has recently seen a large flock of starlings.

The original nesting site of the starling was in the hollow trees of woodlands and only when they became very numerous did they take to nesting in buildings.