Have the Sandmartins abandoned their colony down at Killard nature reserve. Does anyone know? I saw dozens down there maybe 8 years ago. It would be as a shame if they are no more. Colonies like this are extremely rare. I know of only one other large colony like this on the Bann near Coleraine. Does anyone know of any other here?
The sand martin is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America. Our Sandmartins winter in eastern and southern Africa.
The 12 cm (4.7 in) long sand martin is brown above, white below with a narrow brown band on the breast; the bill is black, the legs brown. The young have rufous tips to the coverts and margins to the secondaries.
Its brown back, white throat, small size and quick jerky flight separate it at once from similar swallows, such as the house martin or other species of Riparia.
The sand martin's twittering song is continuous when the birds are on the wing and becomes a conversational undertone after they have settled in the roost.
Food consists of small insects, mostly gnats and other flies whose early stages are aquatic.
The sand martin is sociable in its nesting habits; from a dozen to many hundred pairs will nest close together, according to available space. The nests are at the end of tunnels of from a few inches to three or four feet in length, bored in sand or gravel. The actual nest is a litter of straw and feathers in a chamber at the end of the burrow; it soon becomes a hotbed of parasites.
food consists of small insects of all types caught on the wing.
