Last week was Sand Martins, this week it’s their blue and white cousins House Martins. While it’s relatively easy to catch Sand Martins that nest in waterside tunnels or quarries, House Martins that build mud nests under the eaves of buildings present a more difficult proposition.
That is the main reason why over the years since the early 1990s our own Fylde Ringing Group has captured just 43 House Martins but more than 1326 Sand Martins.
The latest Birds of Conservation Concern report of late 2021 reveals that more than 1 in 4 UK species, including Swifts and House Martins, are now in serious trouble. The UK has lost over half of its House Martin population (-57%) since 1969 and the species is now “Red-listed” and in need of further and immediate study.
On Tuesday morning an hour's drive took us to Dunsop Bridge, Bowland and a building owned by the water company United Utilities where House Martins nest under the low slung eaves just 12ft off the ground. The building sits alongside the rocky and free-running River Dunsop that hosts piles of insect food and also places where the martins can collect mud to build their homes.
House Martin
We didn’t expect to catch many and knew that it would be adults only until late June and beyond. We estimated 10 active nests and managed to catch 9 House Martins. We’ll return later in the month and into July, August and September to see how the breeding season progressed and gather more data when we catch youngsters of the year plus more adults.
Thanks are due to United Utilities for allowing access to their works compound and to the chaps on site who put up with us for a few hours at their place of work. We all enjoyed the sights and sounds of good numbers of Pied Wagtails, Common Sandpipers, Grey Wagtails, Swallows, Mistle Thrushes. Most of all we enjoyed seeing House Martins at close quarters.
House Martin
Mistle Thrush
By the time we drove back towards the coast the Trough of Bowland road was busy with cyclists, walkers and other vehicles. There was a roadside juvenile Curlew that posed for a photo but the sun was not in the best situation. Lots of Meadow Pipits were in evidence together with Oystercatchers, a few Lapwings, but sadly very few Redshanks.
Meadow Pipit
Oystercatcher
Curlew
Back soon with more news, views and photos. The next ringing will be those Kestrels and a look in the Barn Owl nest box.
Linking today with Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.
Beautiful variety of birds Phil! The House Martins are cute. The Mistle Thrush is a beauty. The oystercatcher and Curlew are favorite too. Take care, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteYou must truly enjoy this. Such fun.
ReplyDeleteLovely birds!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity to get close to the Sand Martins! Hopefully, your return visit later in the year will be really productive.
ReplyDeleteThe light may not have been what you wanted, but the Mistle Thrush looks splendid! He seems to have been surveying all the road traffic.
One hopes your efforts to gather data will be combined with others to influence changes which will benefit birds in trouble. A monumental challenge around the planet.
Gini and I are well after a few weeks of less than optimal health. Good trips to the swamp the past few days!
Phil - I am glad that you included a shot of an Oystercatcher. I think I saw quite a few of these when we were walking along the River Swale. Is that likely?
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor has a healthy population of Cliff Swallows building mud nests under the eaves of the barn. Impressive work!
Hello Phil
ReplyDeleteYour birds and photos are beautiful, what a great collection.
I would love a look into a barn owl Nest. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your weekend.
Birds are endangered everywhere! Good that you are documenting the situation.
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Did you say Owl? I'll be back! heehee! Love seeing the small birds you study and the thrush. They can be hard to spot in the grasses! Enjoy your weekend. We are having some early morning showers, makes it hard to plan a day out!
ReplyDeleteSorry I have not been visiting. So much going on here at present and I am hoping that in July we might get back to what might be normal - whatever that is.
ReplyDeleteLovely set of photos and I am glad the ringing is going well. We have had a few new visitors to the garden but I have much catching up to do!
Keep safe, best wishes Diane
Such a nice variety of birds on your post here.
ReplyDeleteI was startled the other day ... while standing at the kitchen window (washing up) a pigeon decided to stop by and perched on the window ledge looking in at me! Not had that happen before.
Enjoy these June days.
All the best Jan