Murton lead the way in Sand martin nesting facilities in the 2007 season with the introduction of a newly designed nesting box. We have designed and constructed these boxes in a way which we believe most closely represents what the birds may find on a natural sand face. The 57mm holes are of course cut for them and the boxes are filled with packed sharp sand.

  

The largest of the boxes is 4 cubic feet and will hold about 2 and a half tons of sand. The other 2 boxes (one of which is shown) is slightly smaller with a capacity of 1 and a half tons.

They have been designed so that they can be easily cleaned out each winter and when mounted on the steel poles, each box will offer a safe, dry and ample nesting opportunity for several pairs of birds - potentially as many as 20 pairs in each.

We have also installed newly designed smaller boxes which we are mounting on fence strainer posts, thereby increasing the potential for expanding the Sand martin nesting area across the reserve. In addition, we hope to demonstrate that affordable, easily constructed nesting boxes can be produced by anyone and sited wherever Sand martins show a liking for nesting.

In May, the birds began taking up residence in the boxes. Their numbers per box exceeded our expectations and they appeared to have had a very successful nesting season.