Sand Martin Roost

I came across something I have never seen before tonight, whilst out owling (no owls) with Henry.

What I noticed at first was a flock of birds flitting quickly across a field of rape - my first thought was linnets, but as soon as I got the binoculars on them, they turned out to be a flock of 120 or so sand martins, swarming to and fro low across the rape, appearing very much like a shoal of fish, first dark and then startingly light as they turned rapidly, changing direction frequently showing at one moment their dark uppersides and then their white chests and occasionaly seeming to leap upwards in the air. In many respects the sight resembled a pre-roost flock of starlings in the way the martins twisted and turned, but in this case low over the field, not high above it. Occasionally I could hear a rush of wings and the odd buzz, but otherwise the flock was silent. There was a single swallow in with the martins.

The martins moved backwards and forwards, covering only 30 or so yards before each turn, for five minutes or so and then suddenly dived into the rape, where just a few could be seen perched on the rape stems - alertly looking around.

You always see something at dusk - tonight was no exception!