The Sand Martin Saga continues.
Even though our catches this year have been very poor, we don’t give up that easily. So I met Andy today for another go at the Sand Martins that live on the high cliffs of Cockerham Quarry.
We thought there to be less martins today - c250 compared with our last visit of 23 June when we counted about 400 birds and caught five.
It could be that some have left already as Sand Martins are known to use different colonies in the same season. This happens often due to the transient, almost temporary nature of many colony sites which may deteriorate through erosion and other weather factors, or even via ground predators like Badgers destroying the tunnels.
Also, previous studies have shown that both adults and juveniles regularly visit colonies other than their own, especially during post-breeding and post-fledging. Adults may breed at different colonies in the same season.
Our two birds today were both juveniles, so we ringed one each but we couldn't tempt any more to the nets.
Sand Martin - juvenile
On the way home I stopped to photograph young Swallows.
Swallows
Swallow
Swallow
Swallow
There’s more ringing and more birds news on Friday.
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