A sand martin near their seawall colony at Epney

Update:
I've added another sand martin in flight as an 'Extra', following Stevvi's pertinent comment. Do you think I should I swap the two birds round?

I started the day taking Woodpeckers to work, as she was laden with computers and stuff she needed at her ‘other’ work venue. From there I drove into the town centre and went o stock up on suet pellets for the birds, who seem to have been very hungry this spring, especially the huge number of young tits who’ve appeared. As I had to pass a chain of opticians I decided to pop in and book an eye test for tomorrow, as I definitely need new glasses.

Having returned home for breakfast and heavy duty coffee I thought I would drive to Gloucester to stock up on fresh tofu which I promised cook tonight. I much prefer the tofu from the Chinese emporium as it is much closer in form and taste to how I first discovered my love of it when in Thailand and Malaysia more than forty years ago. I also stocked on fresh lemon grass as well as supplies of instant ‘tofu’ soups, which I highly recommend as filling snacks.

I took the long way home crossing the Sharpness canal to head to Hardwicke for supplies of organic kefir from Jess’s Ladies cows at their farm shop. From there I wandered on to Epney where the road runs  for a few hundred yards along the top of the manmade protective flood bank at Epney. Parking beside a yard converted into small industrial units, Walked across the road to stand admiring the views the huge meander of the River Severn, just a quarter of a mile before the estuarine and tidal river narrows into a ‘normal’ river at Longney.

I saw some egrets standing in the shallows a few hundred yards upstream and noticed that the sandbanks had shifted allowing some other birds to stand close together as a flock of waders, until the last moment of the rising tide forced them to float or fly away. But the delight for me today was the presence of the flock of about fifty sand martins swiftly flying around as they fed on insects over the water as well as the meadows close by.

They nest in the high man made seawall on which the road runs, which is designed to prevent further erosion of the apex of the meander. They must find holes in the bank, which I presumed was concrete but may have large cracks allowing them access. I’ve filmed them many times over the years but not in recent times. I have a new camera now with better focusing potential so it was an interesting test.