Teamwork

This is possibly one of my most boring blips.

It is also one of my favourites - I award the team who re-built this a heart.

I always enjoy the return of our house martins. And I signed up to the BTO survey, which would involve me filling in an on-line form each week to record progress, a week or so before we went on holiday in mid May.

One week later disaster struck. Part of the nest collapsed, leaving a gaping hole in the side. The birds, newly arrived, abandoned. And that I thought was it - for this year and future years (I was thinking about putting up an artificial nest this winter). 

Then one evening last week we noticed something rather odd. House martins - a whole group - were flying between our house and next door. When I went out I even saw a bird sitting in the base of the nest. Surely they could not be thinking of re-building.

Well, this evening, we saw this. The nest has been re-built, the new section - which is a lot of the nest - is clearly visible as the mud is newer. I got my camera out to take some photos. as I did so a bird flew out, then two flew in. It looks like they are taking up immediate residence. I am astonished, and impressed.

The reason the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) is undertaking the survey is because we know so little about this little bird, which is in serious decline. We know where our swallows and swifts winter in Africa. No-one has any idea where all the Martins go, there are no records.  Which is pretty interesting.

And I think they must have a rather interesting family and social life. It takes good teamwork to recover a collapsed nest like this.