By Jonathan Pomroy – Wildlife and Landscape Artist   Mass Desertion of House Martins in a North Yorkshire Village Once you have lived with house martins it’s hard to live without them. As I write on May 15th we have a single pair of house martins which have yet to lay eggs. I struggle to...

By RSPB Conservation Advisor Hilary McGuire We bought house martin cups, along with swift, house sparrow and bat boxes, with a small pot of money left to us when a farmer who we used to work with passed away, and in leaving their legacy, specified that house birds, including house martins should benefit. Targeting areas...

House Martin Conservation UK & Ireland Annual General Meeting Sunday 1st December 2024, 5pm by Google Meet Attendees: Ian Donovan (Chair/Trustee), Ben MacDonald (Trustee), John Feltwell (Trustee), Ben Ward, Louise Bentley, Bill Grayson, Heather Bland, Jonathan Pomroy, Karin De Rijck, Barbara Polonara, Nigel Matthews, Paul Stevens, Peta Sams, Rupert Earl, Sheila Penfold, Tracey Ellen, Brian...

Chulmleigh is a small, rural hilltop town in North Devon. Chulmleighs’ Swift and House Martin Conservation Project was started by a local lady named ‘Vivien’, an avid bird watcher, during the pandemic. It gave her the opportunity to devote time to helping save these endangered birds, their habitats and nesting areas. And so, the project...

Once there were many house martins that nested under the eaves of the Sea Mills Station building and also on houses along the street. For various reasons there was a drastic decline in numbers until we only had two pairs breed here successfully in 2023. We observed the birds trying to build and then abandon...

Swift bricks are becoming more common in planning conditions, ecology reports and Local Plans, with some local authorities such as Brighton & Hove requiring swift bricks in almost all suitable new developments awarded planning permission. However, artificial nest cups (ANCs) are still a rarity, and there are a few reasons for this which I’ll explain...

Last year our swift group purchased some nest cups from Paul Stevens, to try and boost some of our local house martin colonies. We were delighted to hear from Paul Gorton north of Bury that the birds on his house had their best season in years! Paul told us that in the two natural nests,...