Gloss-finish

After some early rain, we had a bright but blustery day here in the east. Chris went off to Woodston Ponds to do his last session of water beetle monitoring, and after dropping him off, Rosie and I went for a bracing walk at Ferry Meadows. It was definitely feeling autumnal, with several species of fungus peppering the grassland, including a good group of snowy waxcaps Hygrocybe virginea. A large stand of galingale Cyperus longus was flowering along one edge of the smallest lake, which resounded to the evocative, whistling call of wigeon.

The highlight for me was a very large flock of starlings, at least several hundred, which were alternating between an area of dense hawthorn scrub and the top of an oak tree. I love listen to their chattering calls, interspersed with nasal wheezing and high pitched whistles. I grew up in the suburbs of London, where starlings were common, and their companionable gossiping always reminds me of my childhood.

They're looking particularly magnificent at the moment having completed their moult. The whitish tips of their new feathers are like a sprinkling of hearts on the iridiscent blues, purples and greens of their glossy body.

Numbers seem to be increasing locally, as Chris also saw a large flock at Woodston Ponds. Last year there was a large roost a few miles away, which had some splendid murmurations, though I only discovered this when it was too late. It might soon be time to go and check the site out, although there's every possibility they'll find somewhere new to roost.