Sand Martins

Several of the ringing team found themselves on the banks of the River Swale on Sunday evening to ring at a large Sand Martin Colony.  The burrows extended for several hundred metres down the banks - nets were set close to these to catch the birds as they flew into the nest holes.

Over 100 birds were caught, a mixture of adults and juveniles.  Amongst those caught were two birds that had previously been ringed in France and one retrap from Britain.

Thank you to the team who turned out to help, hopefully we will get a chance later in the summer to return to the site!