Sand Martins - April 2026

The Grand Bridge at Blenheim is often an ideal vantage point for photography, providing elevation that can put you at eye-level or above the birds you want to get shots of. With nothing much of interest one sunny morning, I had a crack at trying to photograph the Sand Martins as they buzzed around the bridge prospecting nest holes. I had tried similar a couple of weeks before and got some nice shots of some of the resident birds collecting nest material from the grass areas around the bridge. On that occasion some smart aleck jogged past and wished me good luck in a tone that suggested I'd have no chance. A quiet "f*ck you" and I continued my efforts. What he doesn't realise is that the autofocus and tracking capabilities of modern mirrorless cameras is quite phenomenal, and while it doesn't make it easy, with some persistence you will get some sharp shots. The challenge with the Sand Martins is they were flying quite close and so their relative speed is increased meaning getting them in frame and following them while engaging the autofocus is tricky. And as good as the autofocus on these cameras is, it can still struggle to hold focus on the bird against a busy background. On a physical level, your arms hurt after a while too. So after 20 minutes or so, I was quite pleased with the following selection.