Our Annual Pilgrimage to see the Sand Martins

29th June 2024

It is now the end of June so the Sand Martins should be feeding near full-grown young so plenty of opportunities for some action shots. It was good to see so many occupied nests with counts of up to 90+ birds present. This is a juvenile bird as can be seen by the pale fringes to the wing coverts.

This is an adult bird with a plain dull brown back.

Luckily there are some branches around when you want a break from hanging on a cliff!!

For some reason this bird was still excavating a nest and as you can see from the third photo it is a very messy business. But why they are excavating at the end of June remains a mystery. Seems a bit late even for a second attempt.

Also curious was that a number of birds were landing on the tide wrack and picking up small pieces of wood and taking it back to their nest. Not quite sure why they are still adding to their nest at this time and why wood? Anyway, it did provide some flight shots.

And now feeding time around the cliff so just sit back and enjoy.

And here is the end result. Two nearly fledged youngsters taking their first look at their enormous new world. I just wonder what they are thinking????

Never tire of this place and will certainly be back next year.