DISASTER BEFALLS CLEETHORPES SEAFRONT'S LAST NESTING PAIR OF HOUSEMARTINS

 

Female began incubating eggs before construction of mud nest was fully completed

WHAT is thought to have been the last breeding pair of housemartins on Cleethorpes seafront has left the area after catastrophe befell its nest.

The tiny black-and-white birds, which are about about the size of sparrows, migrate to Britain from South Africa for summer.

But its numbers locally and nationwide are in  sharp decline.

Using mud gathered from the beach, the Cleethorpes birds were making their nest under the eaves of an apartment block on Kingsway.

It is believed the female had laid eggs and was incubating, but last Friday the nest fell to the ground - either by mishap of nature or though human intervention (ie it was knocked off).

The martins have now abandoned the seafront.

On the plus side, part of Healing is proving to be something of a stronghold for housemartins with several pairs currently nesting under the eaves of properties on Larkspur Avenue  

Note: Housemartins are a protected species, and it is a criminal offence knowingly to disturb breeding birds or to destroy their nests.  

Housemartins surveying the tideline for suitable mud

                                                              

The nest has gone, and the birds have left the site