The last couple of days have shown incredible numbers of House Martins on the patch, presumably trapped on this side of the English Channel by the heavy rain. What a spectacle it has produced...
Yesterday hundreds were feeding along the sea front, with plenty more over town including a small flock feeding in my housing estate just before dusk. And when I woke up this morning, this is what greeted me...
As you can see they are almost all juveniles. Amazing to see such impressive numbers from my back garden, what an event to witness! I had to go to work shortly afterwards, but several hundred were feeding in the river valley for most of today.
Turns out this was part of a big influx/movement of House Martins along the south coast over the past couple of days. The numbers involved in total must be completely mind blowing, my twitter feed has been full of messages like this since yesterday...
Sadly today a few casualties have been picked up, suggesting finding food has been a problem for them during this recent rain. Am pleased to say there does seem to be far fewer around this evening, which hopefully means many have been able to carry on with their autumn migration today.
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