Sand Martins

Over 180 nestlings were ringed in the first brood.  Andy Chappell and Alex Dodds checked the site today and 3 second broods were ringed.

An update on the Mid-Lincs RG artificial Sand Martin colony near Belmont.  All 36 nest holes are occupied and to date, 120 nestlings have been ringed and a further 60 will be ready in the next week.  The earliest brood has already fledged and a second nest has been made.  On Sunday 23/5 6 ringers caught the adults leaving the colony resulting in a further 43 new birds and 15 subsequent captures - these included one which was originally ringed as a nestling on 31/7/2020 at the artificial site at Rutland Water!  Historically the first brood is usually the biggest and we have already ringed 6 broods of 6 birds and 8 of 5 birds.  The young have fledged a fortnight earlier than last year and second brood should be ready to ring in late June.  Data courtesy of Project Manager, Andy Chappell.