Large bodies of freshwater
frequently attract high numbers of insects. These in turn attract
the attention of feeding bats and birds. The sand martin is
one species that has always been attracted to Alton during the
summer in large numbers. Unfortunately up until the mid 1990’s
they have never bred successfully. To help them in this task
a section of waterside cliff was exposed using a JCB digger.
Almost
immediately a breeding colony of around 60 birds was established
and many young were successfully reared. Unfortunately
this early success has not been consistently repeated although
most years some young are still reared. It appears that only
a specific band of strata within the cliff is used and natural
erosion has tended to reduce this each year.
To overcome
this an artificial cliff was designed and constructed in front
of the Coralline Hide. Over 100 artificial nesting chambers
were constructed using plastic pipe fittings. A metal skirt
was added to restrict access by predators such as mink. We are
hoping it won’t be long before the first sand martin takes
up residence!
