Cliff-nesting Martins

There was plenty of avian activity on the cliffs beside the rifle range in the bright morning sunlight. The usual residents were seen - feral pigeons, jackdaws, crows, whitethroats, rock pipits, kestrels and house martins have all been here through the summer and hopefully have bred successfully.
The fulmars have now departed for the open sea, and will return in the late winter to choose nesting sites.

These cliffs hold one of only two House Martin cliff nesting sites in Kent, and the later youngsters are still in the nests - it seemed that the rest of the flock was trying to encourage them out today.

There are fewer nests on houses these days, which is a shame as they were considered lucky in the days of my youth(!). Now, in the B&Q age, our houses are expected to be pristine inside and out, so martins' nests are routinely destroyed. Perhaps the lack of muddy puddles (also tidied up) prevents the birds from building in our neat suburbs.