Sand martin colony destroyed

swifts need our help!

My local sand martin colony of up to 300 nests has been destroyed by a fox/es and / or badger/s. A very sad site to see.

swifts need our help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJQlZozvNNI

IrishHomer

Well I'm relieved to hear it was a natural event.

LostCovey

IrishHomer wrote: »

Well I'm relieved to hear it was a natural event.

With the wisdom of hindsight, a colony in such a low bank stood very little chance. Sad to see all the same.

swifts need our help!

The colony has been there 4 or five years. Last year was the first attack.

I've just spoken to an expert who did he PHD in foxes and he says the damage, until he sees the photos, is most likely badger/s

Half-cocked

Could it have been the torrential rain eroding out the mouths of the holes? The rain enlarged the burrows in a colony I keep an eye on, but no where near as bad as those in the video.

Any sign of animal tracks?

Cork boy 55

Could it have been dogs?
Did it occur in one night or day?

Lot of damage must have been several animals

Deer Hunter DL

you can see the claw marks where it was dug out looks very like the work of a hungry badger , one badger would do this on its own in a while of a night no problem , its a pity it happened but thats nature and it was very very low place they were in , it looks very man made too so maybe who ever made it for them should of tryed something a little higher

Judgement Day

Is it not the same colony referred to here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78113504 which was rebuilt?

swifts need our help!

The sand at the base of the bank smelled of fox. I dont know what a badger smells like.

The bank is and isnt man made. It a natural glacial deposit that was being removed to make a housing development but the company folded. This left a nice bank for the sand martins to nest in.

In winter 2010 the bank collapsed so it was fixed by concerned locals.

This year builders destroyed it and were made to fix it. There was a plan to dig a trench at the base to stop unwanted mammal attention but sadly it didnt happed

Judgement Day

To me it looks like well-intentioned human intervention provided a killing zone.

swifts need our help!

The sand martins moved in naturally starting with about 5 pairs

LostCovey

Judgement Day wrote: »

To me it looks like well-intentioned human intervention provided a killing zone.

If you do nothing, you'll do nothing wrong.

At least that what my horoscope said.

They got a couple of years out of it, much like a lot of their sites.

They are nothing if not versatile & adaptable, I have no doubt they are busily incubating a second clutch of eggs somewhere else by now.

LostCovey

Birdnuts

LostCovey wrote: »

If you do nothing, you'll do nothing wrong.

At least that what my horoscope said.

They got a couple of years out of it, much like a lot of their sites.

They are nothing if not versatile & adaptable, I have no doubt they are busily incubating a second clutch of eggs somewhere else by now.

LostCovey

Yep - Sandmartins are hardy bucks that will thrive even in working quarries, moving as and when required:)

Judgement Day

LostCovey wrote: »

If you do nothing, you'll do nothing wrong.

At least that what my horoscope said.

They got a couple of years out of it, much like a lot of their sites.

They are nothing if not versatile & adaptable, I have no doubt they are busily incubating a second clutch of eggs somewhere else by now.

LostCovey

But that's my point, they didn't even get one season out of it as the new colony was only established this year in the newly created bank. It would have been better to leave well alone - just my opinion.

swifts need our help!

Judgement, this is their 4th or 5th year at the site

swifts need our help!

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

Could it have been dogs?
Did it occur in one night or day?Lot of damage must have been several animals

It happened over a week