Starling murmurations, always a pleasure to see for a great many people, but to see a proper spectacular one, is not always a common sight.
Evenings are probably the best time to see a murmuration, they seem to last longer giving a longer show, but if you’re early enough, and camera/camcorder at the ready, then a morning murmuration can be just as spectacular.
Many of you know I am a bit of an early bird, something ingrained from many decades of having to be at work in the early hours. Not one to be negative, (without good reason), I’ve turned it to an advantage.
A bit of boring stuff first, particularly as many reserves are built on or around water courses, which can be susceptible to flooding.
Though it was a dull morning, and Brandon Marsh was recovering from being flooded Sunday 10th December, which I wasn't aware of until after these photos were taken.
I am aware that Brandon Marsh naturally endures high water levels after periods of heavy rain, it is a known flood plain. With that in mind my visits are planned to account for the fact post-accident I am limited with what footwear I can wear. However, on this particular morning once I'd entered Central Marsh I was aware the water levels had been higher than normal.
Even under the dimly lit headtorch light at around 06:15 it was very apparent, so I proceeded with caution, observing all points where water levels could be observed. Satisfied that water levels were continuing to drop I carried on, but the high water levels were very apparent along the path.
Incidentally, the dimly lit red glow of the headtorch is my preferred setting, not dying batteries. Many of you are aware I used to undertake mountaineering as a hobby. During that time I attended many navigation courses for nighttime and fog bound navigation skills plus a winter mountaineering course, learning to use ice axe and crampons to continue my enjoyment as safely as possible.
One thing that was taught to us as part of the nighttime navigation was the different light colours and how much you can see without torches.
A low illumination red light is used to reduce the effects of light blindness when switching off a light. We've all been there, switch off a light and for a short while you see the imprint of the light. To reduce that effect, the lower the luminance, the quicker the the eyes adjust to the dark. Also, light colour makes a notable difference. A low luminance red light allows the eyes to adjust quicker to darkness, which is what I use.
Low level red light does have its limitations, for those who use maps, the brown contour lines on Ordnance Survey maps are cancelled out. There is a remedy for that, low level green light, but the glare is more intense than the red.
For me, the evening opportunities aren’t quite so easy to capture with being in Dark County, the new name I’ve given to my homeland and surrounding areas with all the house building going on and HS2, making evening travel not a pleasant thing. Fairground dodgems are safer and more fun…..
I’ll cut the waffle and post the photos.
I’ve a lot to learn when it comes to video, and still learning a lot around photography, but enjoying each step.
The dawn of a new day
After what sounded like an engine warm-up, they're off....
Waterfowl was generally quiet, which is hardly surprising considering the high water levels a few days previous, but some of the hardy stalwarts were there, a dinosauromont.....
A subsequent visit a couple of days later shown a big return to waterfowl, which will be in another report to follow.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler