Dog-bathing area at Cleethorpes country park lake has become no-go area for tiny bird from Africa

 

Dogs love splashing about in the country park lake but their presence severely spooks the housemartins 

SOME Cleethorpes dog owners are - unwittingly - hastening the local decline of a tiny migrant  bird from Africa.

Up until the past 20 years or so, housemartins used to gather mud from the fringes of the lake in Cleethorpes country park to build their nests under the eaves and guttering of houses in the town.

But since the lake's muddiest stretch was designated a bathing area for dogs, mud-gathering has been a challenge for these cute black-and-white relatives of the swallow and members of the hirundine family.

The presence of the dogs make them too frightened to land except for a few seconds at a time.

As has been conspicuous this month, the sunnier the weather equals the greater the presence of dogs equals the less  chance of gathering any mud.

After a few moments on ground, the birds are soon forced to fly away by the presence of dogs.

Over the past decade, sadly, housemartins have disappeared as nesters from many parts of  North East Lincolnshire, though there are still thought to be  a few pairs on houses on one of the Persimmon housing estates off Humberston Avenue, Humberston, and a couple of colonies in Healing.

Time was when the birds nested on buildings on Cleethorpes seafront - for instance, the Kingsway Hotel.

Here,  the noisy disturbance of flypasts by the Red Arrows and other jets may have caused them to desert their nests. 

Above and below - the housemartins gathering mud at the country park lake while the sun shines

But with so many dogs on site, their opportunities are all too brief

And then they are forced to flee