A Couple of Hours with the Sand Martins at Wrabness

12th May 2022

Wrabness is a lovely EWT reserve on the south bank of the River Stour, well known for its Turtle Doves and Sand Martin colony and today we spent a couple of hours with the martins to see how they were getting on. There were scores of birds present and someone had counted 30 occupied nests which would certainly appear to be of the right order.

The birds are still preparing their nests so the cliff face was very busy with some burrows still being excavated or refurbished.

And time to look out from what is to be your new home for the next six months.

Hanging on to the side of a cliff is one thing, but when you need a break from excavating and have a preen you need a more secure perch.

And those favourite perches are worth fighting over.

Also plenty of formation flying.

And once the nest burrow is completed to your satisfaction, time to collect some nest material and take it to the nest to line the chamber.

And finally the best shot of the day. Andy was trying to photograph his fellow photographer in action when he was photo-bombed by a Sand Martin..........or was it the other way round ?😏