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The West of Scotland gets its first artificial sand martin nesting wall
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£10,000 nest in Erskine now waiting for its first birds
West of Scotland’s first ever manmade artificial sand martin nesting wall is set to get its first residents as sand martins arrive over the next few weeks to nest and breed.
It is hoped that the newly constructed £10,000 nesting wall in Erskine will attract the under threat species to the area to breed and raise their young.
The innovative nesting system, was the idea of the Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire & Renfrewshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) Partnership, following concern over a lack of suitable nesting sites by Paisley Natural History Society member and wildlife photographer, Norman Tait. The local biodiversity officer working for Renfrewshire Council, Petrina Brown investigated the logistics of installing an artificial sand martin nesting wall in the area covered by the group and located the site at Scottish Water’s Waste Water Treatment Works in Erskine.
Similar walls have been constructed in other parts of the UK and have proved very successful, such as the one built by the Scottish Wildlife Trust at Broughty Ferry in Dundee.
The construction of the sand martin nesting wall in Erskine, was funded by the Community Environmental Renewal Scheme (Scottish Executive & Forward Scotland), Scottish Natural Heritage, Professor Blodwen Lloyd Binns Bequest Fund, Paisley Natural History Society and Renfrewshire Council.
Renfrewshire Councillor Anne Hall, spokesperson for sustainable development, said: “This new nesting site is a great environmental achievement for the local area. We are really excited to see how the sand martins take to their new nesting wall and hope that we will be able to boost the numbers of sand martins breeding in the area and help stop the decline of this special species.”
Sand martins are now a UK species of conservation concern, with the 60’s droughts in sub-Saharan Africa and the erosion of their natural nesting sites thought to be influential in their decline. They are small streamlined birds belonging to the Hirundine (swallows & martins) family. They spend winter in Africa but migrate in the spring to breed in Europe, making a round trip of at least 5000 miles. Their natural nest site would be an exposed sandstone or earth wall in a river bank or quarry. They nest by digging a tunnel through the compacted sand to create a burrow to raise their young.
For more information about attending supervised visits of the wall or for a copy of the LBAP contact the Biodiversity Project Officer on 0141 842 5281 or log onto www.renbap.paisley.ac.uk.
Press Release: Wednesday 12 April 2006
