House Martin show down.

Yesterday I was on the scene (camera at hand!) at my neighbour's when there was about 6 House Martins flying around.

Another near neighbour has a pair making a nest, it appears that some late arrivals were in search of a nest. As the pair at my neighbour's house had already completed the partial nest already there, I guess they had to prove it was theirs!

It was very cloudy and of course the nest is under the eaves in the shadows, but I upped the EV to max and got some reasonable shots. I have selected approximately 20 of these.

#1 A pair clinging to the bricks towards the edge of the house.

#2, one was in the nest with another clinging to the side while attacked by a third.

#3, the third one about to land on the nest.

#4, all 3, one in the nest looking out with the intruder looking backwards.

#5, intruder hanging on with head turned 180 degrees. You can see it's feet hanging on to the edge of the nest.

#6, all 3 with the other one coming in behind the intruder.

#7, one on the wall and two in flight.

#8, two on the wall to the left of the nest with one guarding it, and presumably one inside the nest still.

#9, in the last pic one looks to be taking off, this is the fly by.

#10, another fly by.

#11, looks like a double attack but I think one was part of the residing pair as it clung to the wall next to the nest.

#12, one second later.

#13, the pair in wait.

#14, further attack.

#15, perhaps one of each pair with the one on the right waiting for it's mate.

#16, one still clinging to the nest with the other pair to the right. I wondered if they were going to try building another nest there but doubt it.

#17, I got closer to get this of one of the intruders still clinging on.

#18, last one, remaining on guard.

Geez, you'd think there was a huge MUD shortage in England the way they are behaving.

Nice pics wallaby! I love your Martins!

This message was edited Jun 3, 2008 7:57 PM

Lol Mrs Ed, plenty of MUD around, but would you like to carry all that in such a small beak, hours on end, when you could get a ready made mud hut?

Thanks pelle, they are fun to watch.

Who knows, it might have been the intruding birds who nested there a couple of years ago, none did last year.

Lovely little birds. You've captured the drama well. It looks like the remains of a previous nest just to the right of the existing one.

Thanks for sharing the great pics.

Wow...what action! Great job catching it!

Thanks and you're welcome all!

Margaret, I'm not sure what happened with the 'remains', I think that happened the last time they nested there 2 years ago. It might have been a Magpie but that is speculation, they do take young birds for their own young.

It was sunny today and Soooo lovely, but I had to go to the dentist, what a spoil! I had a good photo shoot session first though! It's a shame the nest is in the shadows, but then what nest isn't unless on the ground. I waited for ages tonight while the sun was setting, the lower it got the shodow got less but they were all too busy catching insects before nightfall.

I watched two birds fly into the nest earlier, a lot of twittering went on. Some time later one was being tipped out! Lol, it was funny to watch, not sure if it was the male or an intruder but I would guess the male, if an intruder the other one of the pair would have been there to help out.

First shove!

Nope, I'm coming back!

You're going like it or not! Notice she has hold of a feather. I got a few of that, she had to keep shoving it.

Geez, give me a break!

You're not getting rid of me that easy!

OK, I know who's boss, I'm going..

This was a great series Wallaby...birds are so dramatic and entertaining! Thanks for the insight into their behavior!

Thanks Rose, they are entertaining for sure!

Wonderful drama, wallaby. Thanks. Where's the images of the screeching driller from the dentist?