Another guest blog post from Debbie on East Reading wildlife. This time, the sand martins are back...
If you go down to Kennetside now, you will be able to see the sand
martin colony that returns to this area every spring to breed. Their normal
nesting habitat would be in burrows that they excavate in places like sandy
river banks and quarry faces, but in East Reading these resourceful birds
utilise old drainage pipes in walls and bridges in which to build their nests.
One of the best places to spot them is on the Newtown side of the railway
bridge that the Horseshoe Bridge is attached to. Look up at the drainage pipes and
you will see them flying in and out. They also sometimes use the old drainage pipes
in the walls of the Kennet as you walk into town and also near to Bel and the
Dragon.
They are small birds with short, forked tails. They are very similar to
house martins, which can also be seen nesting in Newtown, but these make mud
nest under the eaves of buildings.
Sand martins have brown wings and a pale underside with a distinctive
brown band under their chin. House martins are bluey black with a pale
underside and a distinctive white rump. These features can be difficult to spot
when they fly so fast, but if you see birds flying in and out of these old
drainage pipes then you can be sure that these are the sand martins. They also
give fantastic aerial displays over the water as they hunt for insects.
The other bird species that martins are sometimes confused with, are:
Swallows – these are small birds with glossy blue backs, red throats
and pale underparts, but their really distinguishing feature is their long,
tapering forked tail, the forks often described as ‘streamers’. You may see
them feeding over the Thames.
Swifts – these are larger than martins and swallows, are uniformly dark
brown (although they appear black in the sky) and with short forked tails. They
have distinctive scythe-shaped wings and can be seen every summer flying very
fast around Newtown (often very high in the sky) in small flocks with a piercing
‘scream’. They tend to arrive a bit later than the sand martins and are usually
the first to leave as well.
Follow these links for more information, including photographs and
comparisons between each species described above:
1 comment:
Good Day cllr Rob White
When we visit Reading by boat, we moor outside the Bel & The Dragon at Blakes Lock.
At least one of the drainage pipes opposite the pub, clearly visible from their car park,
has been used for two years, watching these birds as I type, they tend to be more active
during the evening & night.
Perhaps cllr, all future walls that are appropriately aligned, should contain such
pipes, regardless.
Best Wishes
Graham Feakins
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