Record number of Sand martin nests at Arundel Wetland Centre
A record 17 sand martin nests were found in the left wing of the special nesting banks built into the Sand Martin hide during the annual checks at WWT Arundel Wetland Centre on Thurs 30 November.
WWT Arundel’s Reserve team has only been able to check the left wing of the artificial nesting bank. A brown long-eared was found hibernating inside the right wing and must not be disturbed.
Reserve Manager Suzi Lanaway said: “Last year in 2022 we had 20 definite nests, with 24 chambers used across both banks of the entire hide. This year, the left bank alone had 17 nests which is very promising! Five of those nest chambers have been used every year for the past three years.”
Finding 17 nests in one bank alone means the martins may have doubled the size of their colony in 2023.
Suzi Lanaway continues: “We had more nests in the right wing than the left last year, so we are very excited to see what will be discovered at the first available opportunity.”
A close up of some nest chambers in the hide, with empty nests and a large spider!
The sand martin colony has been growing since 2019 when only three nests were found in the chambers. In 2020 seven nests were discovered expanding to 15 nests in both wings of bank in 2021. Twenty nests were recorded in 2022.
Every autumn the Arundel Wetland Centre Reserve Team opens the chamber to clean out old nests, unblock nest holes and replaces the sand in the nest chambers to get the nesting bank ready for the when sand martins return in April.
Licensed bat-handler Paul Stevens was on hand to help check the 300 nesting chambers in the hide. Paul oversaw the building of this Sand Martin hide in 2010 when he was Reserve Manager at WWT Arundel until 2020. Paul now volunteers his expertise and is the Conservation Lead for House Martin Conservation UK & Ireland.
Among the 17 sand martin nests found so far there was a failed nest containing 5 eggs, photo above. Paul Stevens said “It was likely the clutch of eggs from a second brood, Martins often raise more than one brood of chicks in a season.”
Sand martins will arrive in back at Arundel Wetland Centre in early April.
Their breeding season finishes mid-summer and the martins migrate south, in late August and September to spend the winter in Africa.
