Martins on madcap chase in the meadow

Kirkhaugh, Northumberland: The birds hurtled past, chattering like excited children, rising in high-speed turns, chasing the cloud shadows

We stood on the wooden bridge spanning the fast flowing, shallow, South Tyne river. Ahead, in the eroded bank at the bend in the river, we could see the nest holes of a sand martin colony.

The birds flew just above the water, trawling the air for river flies with their gaping beaks, with five youngsters seeming more intent on playing than feeding. They hurtled past, chattering like excited children on a school outing, rising in high-speed turns then skimming the undulations in the meadows, as though chasing the cloud shadows across the landscape.

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