Sand martin

The sand martin

It's been quite a while since I visited the little brown birds with the round heads and short beaks. But I can still remember my first encounters. Rarely had I seen such busy animals. There is a small town near Warnemünde, Nienhagen. If you follow the path further along the coast to the west, you come to the Ghost Forest, on the northern edge of which a sandy cliff falls away. Countless sand martins breed there every summer. Their nests are small tubes that they have dug into the sandy embankment just below the upper edge of the cliff.

As a rule, swallows are not at rest outside their breeding cave. The animals are constantly swarming out. When they approach their nests, they usually disappear straight into the burrow. Depending on their position, they only land briefly on protruding roots. This makes photography very difficult and requires a lot of patience. In addition, the view is restricted by the overhang of the upper plateau. The caves cannot be seen very well from here. However, the perspective is suitable for meeting the birds almost at eye level.

They breed from April to June and can be observed until August. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to take any photos of the fledglings flocking out, but perhaps there will still be one or two opportunities in 2023.