A new Sand Martin nesting box has been put in place on a Langdyke reserve – thanks to a generous donation.
The box has been specially built and placed alongside a stretch of water on the edge of the Vergette Wood Meadow at Etton.
It has been made possible thanks to a generous donation by Mrs Dorothy Astle, the mother of Langdyke chair Richard.
Trustee David Cowcill, who led the project team that installed the box, said: “We’re very grateful to Mrs Astle for her generous gift to the Trust which enabled us to have the box specially designed.
“We’re confident it will provide a home to nesting birds in the spring.”
It has been placed more than a metre off the ground opposite open water and built so that the back can be removed and the nest boxes cleaned out each year.
The box, which is positioned in a sheltered position, should provide an ideal home for the Sand martins, which usually nest in natural sheer cliff faces on river bends or in man-made sites such as gravel or sand pits. They generally use vertical earth and sand banks soft enough for burrowing, in open areas.
It has been built by the Nene Park Trust and has 42 separate box compartments with a small opening to each on the front for the birds to enter.
In a light-hearted comment one Langdyke volunteer suggested that with 42 compartments and 4 or 5 eggs in each with two broods a year it could mean a total of 378 new arrivals!
Richard, who is in the main picture having helped with the installation of the box, said: “We will be pleased if just a handful of birds use the box. It will be a great addition to the reserve.”
