Interesting to see three sand martins repeatedly landing on the ground, this morning, in one of the bare patches where the grass hasn’t completely recovered from last summer’s Eisteddfod. They flew off as we approached; looking at where they had been sitting it wasn’t obvious why they had chosen that particular place. If they had been house martins then the obvious answer would have been gathering mud to build their nests. But sand martins build their nests in tunnels in river banks, so don’t need mud. My guess is that they were feeding on ants or other insects that were exposed in the bare patch. Most species need a range of different habitats to meet their needs: normally floodwaters or cattle would create variety in the vegetation of our flood meadows, but it’s good to see humans’ activities helping, too.