The best place to see the starlings depends a lot on where they chose to go down! They can be fickle things and past performance is no indication, they can spend a week going down by the lower hide and then go down at Griesdale. The benches by the barn is a good catch all site to watch from except if they go down by the lower. It has the disadvantage though that if they perform low down you can lose the starlings in the dark woods behind. The causeway is a good spot for the raw spectacle with the birds wooshing over your head but if the perfornmance is at either end of the reserve you can lose sight of the flock because you are down in the reeds. I prefer to take a punt and go to one end or the other. The lower hide gives good views if the display is at that end of the reserve and the flock is backlight by the twilight and shows up well. The other end is best served by the ramp leading up the doorway of the Griesdale hide, this bit of height gives great views over the reed bed and the flock mostly has the sky behind rather than trees. The disadvantage of the either end approach is , of course, that if they (or you!) choose the wrong end you don't get to see much. Still where would the fun be if it was predictable!
