Sparrowhawk

Yesterday morning I was walking up Whiteknights Road minding my own business, when something crashed through the leaves of a tree on the other side of the road and a blackbird gave hurried alarm call. Then a brown pigeon-sized bird, dropped out of the tree, nearly to the surface of the road before it rose up  over the hedge, then back again over the road, a sharp right-angle turn to avoid a moving car, a quick flash of lighter underparts, then back along the top of the hedge, then off into to the woods.  All in a few seconds.

Sand Martin Nest

It was last summer that I first noticed sand martins (Riparia riparia) on the river Kennet in central Reading.  This year I have been seeing them on and off since late April.  Yesterday I noticed several little heads peeping out from one of the rainwater runoff pipes on the opposite bank to the glass recycling bins at the bottom of Sidmouth Street.  This morning I went down with my camera and took some photos.

The parents were coming back about every minute or so.

But they would only remain just long enough to pass over the food they had gathered, before they were off again.

I saw other sand martins going in and out of a pipe a few metres to the right of this one, but they were going right up inside the pipe and there were no little heads peeping out, so presumably their brood was less well advanced.

Photos taken from Kennetside, Reading, UK, on 2010-06-24.

Update on Sat 2010-06-26 by Tristram Brelstaff

The four nestlings are now out of their nest and flying up and down the river, occasionally coming back to the pipes for a rest.

Swallows

There was a pair of swallows (Hirundo rustica) flying low over the large lake this afternoon.  I suppose they were hunting the mosquitos I saw along my walk.  There were not many other insects about; the weather has turned a little cooler; 8C instead of the 16C of a few days ago,

Sand Martins

Yesterday a pair of sand martins (Riparia riparia) flew past me as I was walking alongside the river Kennet in central Reading.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita.  Identified by its call.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-04-23.