Sand Martins, Ryton Pools, Warwickshire
FPCR worked with Prologis, Whiting Landscapes and rangers at Ryton Pools Country Park to create a permanent purpose-built Sand Martin nesting site within the 100-acre Prologic Park park.
As part of the development of a new UK Mail facility at Prologis Park Ryton, our client Prologis created a temporary borrow pit which inadvertently became home to a colony of Sand Martins (Riparia riparia), successfully breeding on site in 2015.
An exclusion zone was implemented to protect the birds, but recognising both the site’s importance on the species’ migration route and the temporary nature of the borrow pit, FPCR worked with Prologis, Whiting Landscapes and the rangers at nearby Ryton Pools Country Park to create a permanent purpose-built nesting site within the 100-acre park managed jointly by Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.
Completed in March 2016, the 15m-long Sand Martin nesting wall provides a safe nesting habitat, incorporating pre-formed swallow nest sites, inspection hatches for monitoring and maintenance, and anti-predator measures to protect against species such as stoats. FPCR also helped develop an interpretation board to inform visitors about the new habitat. The structure is additionally intended to benefit grizzled skipper butterflies through the future planting of strawberries on the aggregate roof.
Sand Martins are gregarious and therefore tend to nest in large colonies. They are Europe’s smallest hirundine (martins and swallows) and the insectivorous birds are summer visitors to the UK, over-wintering in Africa. To find out more about our nesting bird surveys, take a look at our services page.
