- Feb 5, 2002
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Conservationists realized they needed more than a bucket and shovel to build a 400-ton sand castle large enough to be an attractive home for sand martins to roost in England.
Sand martins, copyright David Tipling for Surrey Wildlife Trust
To help the tiny birds they needed big machines—and building a sandbank large enough for them to build their nests in required the help of a sand-sculpting firm.
The sand martin The smallest English members of both the martin and the swallow family—the birds were finding fewer and fewer places perfect for boring their nests, as so much development had replaced their previous nesting habitats with infrastructure.
The martins return annually from wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. Burrowing into the side of high riverbanks means that sand martins are choosy homemakers—but the Surrey Wildlife Trust, acting as real estate developer, is building an enormous artificial sandbank for them in the Spynes Mere Nature Reserve.
Enlisting the help of a specialist construction and landscaping firm named ‘Sand in Your Eye’, it took weeks of filling in a mold, getting the water content right, and packing down the sand before they were able to remove the wooden supports.
Continued below.
Bird Protectors Built a Giant Sandcastle to Ensure These Martins Have a Nesting Home For Years to Come
Conservationists realized they needed more than a bucket and shovel to build a 400-ton sand castle large enough to be an attractive home for sand martins to roost in England.
Sand martins, copyright David Tipling for Surrey Wildlife Trust
To help the tiny birds they needed big machines—and building a sandbank large enough for them to build their nests in required the help of a sand-sculpting firm.
The sand martin The smallest English members of both the martin and the swallow family—the birds were finding fewer and fewer places perfect for boring their nests, as so much development had replaced their previous nesting habitats with infrastructure.
The martins return annually from wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. Burrowing into the side of high riverbanks means that sand martins are choosy homemakers—but the Surrey Wildlife Trust, acting as real estate developer, is building an enormous artificial sandbank for them in the Spynes Mere Nature Reserve.
Enlisting the help of a specialist construction and landscaping firm named ‘Sand in Your Eye’, it took weeks of filling in a mold, getting the water content right, and packing down the sand before they were able to remove the wooden supports.
Continued below.
Bird Protectors Built a Giant Sandcastle to Ensure These Martins Have a Nesting Home For Years to Come
