A mini murmuration

The third sunny day in a row - one when I felt I really needed to go out somewhere a bit different. So I rang Chris and we had a late afternoon walk to Deepings Lake NR. 

We drove out along the River Welland west of Crowland, where there were a fair few goosander on the water, and we watched a barn owl catch a vole very close to the car. As the passenger, Chris got the best views, but as soon as he moved his camera into position it flew off!

We were hoping for more owls at Deeping Lakes, which has held barn owl, little owl and long-eared owl in previous winters. But like much of the rest of the local area, it was surprisingly quiet. The water levels were much higher than normal, meaning that there were no waders in the shallower lake, and the deep lake was mostly populated by tufted ducks, though we spotted a few distant goldeneye eventually.

As we walked back along the river bank a small starling murmuration assembled - only a few hundred birds - but they swirled across the peachy sky for several minutes before dropping into their reedbed roost.