With so many red kites around where I live, it's not too hard to go out and see a couple gliding around together and take a photo of them. However, with the frequent grey weather in the UK it is only on rare occasions you will get a photo of the red kites without the subjects being too dark.

Sometimes a relatively boring shot of a species can be made to look a lot better when put in a slightly more interesting scene. This photo of a red kite from behind is a fairly unimaginative shot were it not flying into the sunset; but with this added element the species looks more majestic and graceful with the bright light shining through the clouds, silhouetting the subject.

Many lapwings can be spotted flying together over Otmoor during the day, very easy to identify due to their round-ended wings as they flap in the sky. They do this with up to one hundred individuals before settling down in the evening and calling out their distinctive 'pee-wit' call.

​Watching starling murmurations is one of the most iconic things to see at Otmoor. Today, there were low temperatures and visibility was excellent by the time twilight came, with very little cloud cover after a brief burst of rain. This meant it was perfect for the starlings to come together and produce a mass spectacle that is a murmuration, with as many as 75,000 starlings fluttering together as if one mass before dropping down into the reeds for the night. It is arguably one of the best sights to witness that British wildlife has to offer and I’m very lucky to be able to witness it at Otmoor.

Many widgeons can be seen at Otmoor this year, and in the evening just before starling murmurations begin, they can be seen catching the light as they flap up above the reeds, with their distinctive deep chestnut heads and white underbellies.