Reeds, Summer 2016

Vast seas of undulating  green during the spring and summer, swathes of the gold during autumn, to the sparser greys of winter, the reedbeds of the Levels are rarely still. Even in the slightest breeze the reeds will bend and move and the air will be filled with a gentle sound of stems and leaves brushing against each other. In the winds and gales which can travel unimpeded across the levels the sound from the reeds can be an overwhelming roar from a distance and up close an explosive series of creaks, cracks and rubbing sounds. It is difficult for anything to penetrate this sound, though the occasional duck can be heard, and sometimes jays can be heard flying overhead.