As per usual the cloud gods knew I was venturing outside. Upon arrival at Grafham the cloud was dense and grey, and by the time I left it had only brightened on a handful of occasions. I decided not too venture too far and on seeing a busy group of House Martins swooping down low to the shoreline, I decided to take a peak.
Amongst feeding runs they were gathering mud from the shoreline. I worked my way slowly into a position whereby they were landing within 16feet of me and totally oblivious of my actions. There were some younger birds in tow, and as on previous times when Ive watched House Martins, they were learning the art of collecting nest material following behind the adults. One or two were gathering mud but most would pick up a bit of plant material or feather if nearby.
They would all congregate in a nearby tree on the waters edge before feeding over the water and back to collecting mud, god I cursed the weather for not being able to capture more images. When it was bright enough I snapped as many shots as possible during that short spell they were on the ground. The blue sheen on the adults was a lovely contrast to the stark white undersides.
The mother of these ducklings was happy enough for them to slowly saunter past me whilst feeding. Mind you I was not going to move very quickly as by now both my legs were numb from sitting still whilst awaiting the Martins.
I bagged some images of a few species whilst the House Martins had flown off, the Great crested grebe showing well whilst venturing closer due to a anglers boat nearing. Even though the weather had brightened and gotten warmer the birds had moved away so content with a few shots taken I headed home.
