“A murmuration of thousands of birds moves across the sky. It’s stunning, it’s gorgeous.”

Presenter Ann Jones and shorebird expert Bai Qingquan on the spectacle of birds in the air and the deep feelings inspired by their migration.

Thousands of calling shorebirds take to the air, forming a giant cloud which rolls across the sky. Ann Jones witnesses one of the two great avian spectacles to be seen still at Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve in northern China. Local shorebird expert Bai Qingquan talks about his emotions when he sees the other - birds beginning their long migratory flight to the Arctic to breed.

Image: Shorebird enthusiast Bai Qingquan watches thousands of curlews, great knot, godwits and grey plovers take to the air at Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve, northern China. Credit: Ann Jones