Oxfordshire starling murmuration 'fantastic phenomenon'

A mumuration of some 70,000 starlings above a Oxfordshire nature reserve has been described as a "ballet of the skies".

Dr Anne Goodenough, from the University of Gloucestershire, said the spectacle was "an absolutely fantastic phenomenon".

"I would defy anyone to watch this and not have a smile on their face. It's the sound of them beating their wings as one, moving together as one, and that's where the word 'murmuration' comes from - a murmour," she said.

The university is carrying out a survey, external to help establish the reason for the extraordinary aerial behaviour.