Sand Martins at the Breeding Wall
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Sand Martins at the Breeding Wall by David Dixon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Sand Martins at the Breeding Wall
Image: © David Dixon Taken: 9 May 2021
Sand martins are summer visitors to the UK, they are one of the first spring migrants to appear, arriving mid-March to mid-April. They are the smallest European hirundines (martins and swallows); they are remarkably fast and agile fliers. Sand Martins are gregarious in the breeding season, nesting in colonies that may contain more than 100 pairs. They excavate tunnels in sandy, dry vertical banks in sandpits and gravel pits, railway cuttings, riverbanks and sea-cliffs, and exceptionally in drainpipes in walls, and holes in brickwork. Here, they are making use of the specially-constructed breeding wall at Hardy’s Gate (Image]).
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.571828
Longitude
-2.299559