Sand martins bounce back in South Downs
June 11, 2024
Sand martins are being seen in record numbers at a wetland centre thanks to conservation work.
This spring the beautiful birds have been busy nest building at Arundel Wetland Centre, which has specialised nesting banks for the avians.
The birds have been returning each spring since 2017 to raise young in the nesting banks that are built directly into the wildlife hide.
Every spring, swirls of sand martins move through the site, returning from winter homes in Africa and Europe as part of mixed flocks with house martins and swallows. More and more martins have been remaining at Arundel each spring to nest in the specialised hide, with its two artificial nest banks of pre-drilled nest holes.
A record 38 nests were found in the nesting banks after the martins migrated last autumn. The size of the colony has almost doubled every year – with two pairs of birds in 2017, three nests in 2019, seven nests in 2020 and 15 nests in 2021.
Visitors can watch the sand martins from the unique viewing hide nestled between the two banks.
Reserve Manager Suzi Lanaway, who works for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), said: “In 2022 we had 24 chambers used across both banks of the entire hide with five of those nest chambers have been used every year for the past three years.”
The “Sir Peter Scott Centenary Sand Martin hide” – named after WWT’s founder – opened in April 2010 and attracted its first sand martins in April 2011 when two pairs began nest building, but sadly abandoned it after a few weeks. It wasn’t until June 2017 that two more pairs of sand martins moved into the nesting chambers.
If you would like to see the sand martins, WWT Arundel Wetland Centre is open 7 days a week.
