There was a good turnout for the Sand Martins on Monday. Bryan and Alice joined up with Phil and Andy in the hope of a decent catch that might include birds of the year - 3Js as we label them for data input. Where Sand Martins are concerned, four pairs of hands are better than two and infinitely better than one when the catch size is often unpredictable. Four pairs of hands make short work of setting nets too where speed is important so as to minimise disturbance to the colony.
When we arrived our estimated count of Sand Martins milling around was of 200+. From those we had a decent enough catch of 30 Sand Martins, 25 new ones, 4 from our last visit and one from 2020. We expected a number of newly fledged young so were somewhat surprised when all thirty turned out to be adults.
On Sunday when I checked the colony I saw twos and threes of young birds at a good number of entrance tunnels, birds that looked ready to go. There’s no doubt that the unusually cold months of April and May slowed down the breeding season to a virtual stop.
Spot the Sand Martin
Sand Martin
Spot the Sand Martins
When we met up at 0700 hours a pair of noisy Oystercatchers greeted us and barely shut up all morning; we assumed they had youngsters close by. Not so, as eventually and after periods of watching and waiting we realised they had no young in tow and that their constant protests were designed to make us move from their territory. Oystercatchers can be pretty persistent about chasing off both bird and animal predators from their patch, so why might we be any different?
As one bird settled down head tucked into its scapulars and the other close by in watching mode, we may have found their proposed egg laying depression in the ground a foot or so from the water’s edge. A consolation prize of a real nest could be in the offing next time we visit.
Oystercatcher
The Sand Martin colony remained active through the morning as birds arrived and left on their searches for food. With about 60/70 active nests we pencilled in a return fairly soon so as to see how the breeding season has progressed.
Other birds seen on Monday were just Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron and Common Tern. The tern would be a wanderer from the small colony at Conder Green less than a mile away.
Common tern
Back soon folks. There will be yet another bird book review of one that you cannot buy just yet except for placing an order. Another Bird Blog - always ahead of the game.
Phil - glad you had all hands on deck for your sand martin adventure! We (thought we) had blocked a hole in our roofline to prevent a tree swallow from nesting there for the second year, but apparently there was still just enough of an opening for it to squeeze in. Nothing to do now but wait for the young to fledge!
ReplyDeleteRighteous Shot Of That Common Tern In Flight - Love The Personality Of The Sand Martin Photo - Well Done
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Fabulous photograph of the Common Tern in flight.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Hi Phil...what a very long year. I have not heard from you for a long while and I miss your comments. I have posted very little since Covid hit America and I also lost my twin sister to caner a year ago. It has been rough at times and I have taken a break from blogging to try and do some other creative things that have gone nicely with my art work. Your bird shares are always so very interesting and I just read through the most 3 recent ones. It is wonderful to see you still at it and enjoying what you do so much. I hope that Sue and the family are doing well~
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