A martin approaching its nest hole

I stopped at the river bank overlooking the River Severn on my wanderings to buy milk products from Jess's Ladies organic farm, especially their wondrous keffir. an

This stretch near Epney is tidal and the river level was still rising. I noticed occasional flocks of martins swooping over the river before disappearing over the adjacent fields. When they returned they would fly very close to me as I stood on the edge of the road that runs for a couple of hundred yards along the 'sea' wall, paert of the flood prevention scheme all the way up the Severn estuary as far as Gloucester.

I found a spot where I could lean over the wall and get an angle to look back at the martins who nest in small holes above the high tide mark. I managed a couple of shots focusing manually, as my auto focus is rather limited on my old camera, especially with the extender I'd fitted to even see the birds in flight.

The metal flap in the wall is an outlet of a drainage channel from the road. The small ledge running along just above it is at the level of the road I was standing on.