Water and willows

Thank you all so much for the stars and hearts which were showered on yesterday's starling murmuration - it was truly an unforgettable experience.

We actually returned to the site today because this morning  I realised that I had left a lens case and lens hood behind. Pete and I wanted to go back anyway, as we were reconnoitering the site before quoting for some survey later this year. Fortunately we found the missing articles in the bramble bush where I'd stood yesterday.

This area of the Ouse Valley is characterised by water and willows, especially at this time of year when river levels are high and there is flooding in some of the grasslands. The reserve which holds the starling roost is a set of disused gravel pits, but this is the view across the original meadows, which have many old pollarded willows, known to support a wide range of interesting invertebrates, as well as being a well-loved landscape feature.

I could have posted another murmuration shot, but the starlings weren't quite as well behaved today, mostly staying in an oval shape and only briefly morphing into sinuous ribbons. Nevertheless it was still a spellbinding experience, and Alex was particularly impressed  by their rapid descent into the reed-beds, with its attendant whooshing of thousands of wings.