As I write this article at the end of March, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first house martin back in the colony on my Suffolk cottage. Last spring, the earliest arrival date for this forty year old colony was broken by the earliest ever arrival on 1st April. The weather forecast had...

When I began building my house at Crumlin in early May 1999, I noticed a huge flock of house martins availing of a large patch of mud which lay exposed for quite a long time at the lower corner of my site. I had been busy integrating sixteen swift boxes into the soffit of the...

House martins collecting mud – May 19th 2022 On 19th May 2022 the house martins in Gilling East were gathering mud to build or repair nests. I crouched against a garden wall with my sketchbook and watercolours to hand in a position which enabled good views, without disturbing their activity. I did receive some rather...

Global Birdfair was held on 15, 16 and 17 July 2022 at Rutland Showground, Oakham UK. Global Birdfair was held on 15, 16 and 17 July 2022 at Rutland Showground, Oakham UK. Having spent my career as an accountant I had almost no experience of helping to organise and run a stand at a major...

Approximately seven years ago we had the privilege of having a pair of house martins construct a nest under the eaves at the rear of our house. They nested here for a couple of years and although we did have other pairs start to build nothing much came of this. Unfortunately, during the winter of...

Since my last update we have updated our website to enable members and supporters to make donations to the charity. We have been incredibly grateful to see just how many of you are making donations for all sorts of reasons. Only last month we received a donation from a new member who joined us after...

Bentley Wood is a 1,800 acre woodland, with Site of Special Scientific Interest status, located in south-east Wiltshire. A group of people living in villages surrounding the woods have created a Facebook group called the Bentley Wood wildlife buffer zone group. The aim of the group is to create a nature-friendly buffer zone around the...

I am going to tell you about an audio documentary. I must tell you before you read on, I’m not going to give anything away. If you want to know more, you’ll have to listen to it! This audio documentary is not just about birds. I suppose you could say it’s about people with a...

In June we had a total of 26 nesting pairs, three of which arrived in June. Judging by their smart feathering they were later bred young from last season rather that failed breeders from other colonies. three pairs arriving here in June is average for this colony. In June we had a total of 26...

Increasingly it is becoming apparent that many large HM colonies are based on non-residential buildings and structures. However, our current membership offering does not easily fit with non-individual bodies. House Martin Conservation UK & Ireland has a successful system of full membership currently limited to individual memberships with full voting rights in line with both...