STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS- This could be the fearsome scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a flock of 40,000 starlings bask in the heat of a wonderful British sunset. The extraordinary light and shadows echoes the 1960s hit film as huge numbers of the birds appear ready to descend and attack earth below. Fortunately it was actually a far more peaceful setting on Brighton Pier as the amazing murmuration of the birds gathered around the coastline of the seaside resort. They swooped around in the winter sun in February this year, as captured by Hove based photographer Alan Mackenzie. He said despite the large numbers of birds, they have dramatically dwindled in recent decades.Alan, 32, said: "Moments like this make me proud to live on such a beautiful planet and appreciative of the fact that, as a human living in the modern world, I am privileged enough to observe it all
NEVER mind being careful not to choke on your food, this mother bird has a bigger challenge on her hands, as her ravenous offspring impatiently launches its head down into her stomach .
WITHOUT A care in the world, this little snow monkey puts his feet up and settles in for a snooze .
IN THE not so MISTY MOUNTAINS of Wiltshire, there lies an abandoned hobbit house .
HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .
Swirling water and sand create amazing aerial images of river deltas across Iceland .
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
TOWERING 65 metres into the sky, this terrifying accent is a dream for climbers .
SURROUNDED by divers, a hungry green sea turtle enjoys being the centre of attention .
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
PERCHED on a branch, this Little Owl plays third wheel to two love birds .
LUMINOUS green rocks could easily be a beach from Superman's homeland of Krypton .
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .