Wall of welcome: New nesting wall for sand martins stands in Mayo bog

It was blustery and damp outside. Swollen clouds scudded across a slate-grey sky, the threat of rain in the air. But for those gathered inside Clogher Community Hall on August 21, the day was far from bleak. It was full of hope and positivity.
Members of the local community had gathered to launch an inspiring project on a nearby bog, designed to help reverse the decline in the local sand martin population. Thanks to a heartwarming collaboration involving landowners, locals, members of Clogher Environmental Group, Coillte, Burren Beo, Fáilte Ireland, TDs and Mayo County Council, a sand martin wall – the first of its kind in Connacht, and only the third in Ireland – now stands proud on the beautiful Clogher Bog Loop Walk, beside a freshly dug wildlife pond.
It is hoped that these manmade living quarters will be the key to reestablishing a thriving sand martin population on the bog, so that generations to come can enjoy the antics of these gorgeous, brave little birds as they woo mates and raise their chicks before returning to sub-Saharan Africa to overwinter.
As Clogher Environmental Group’s project coordinator Tom McLoughlin pointed out, Clogher has become a real draw for walkers and nature enthusiasts throughout the county and beyond. “We have so many walks here… it’s high up on the agenda for so many visitors. This project is located on one of our routes that’s frequented daily by walkers who love to come to this area. It’s just 12km from Castlebar, and you can come explore the flora and fauna and experience the biodiversity. And it really is a lovely area that’s peaceful and quiet, and an escape from the urban setting.”
But why are our sand martins in trouble? Perhaps understanding a little about them and their plight will help shed some light.

Slide to amber
Many will recognise Michael Kindgon’s name from his regular ‘Country Sights and Sounds’ nature columns in these pages. Michael also works with Clogher Environmental Group, and it was he who spearheaded the sand martin wall alongside well-known local conservationists Lynda and Chris Huxley.
During a fascinating presentation on sand martins, Michael explained that these delicate soft-brown and cream birds are a type of swallow, the smallest of the three we get here in Ireland – the others being the barn swallow and the house martin. Its Latin name, Riparia riparia, derives from the Latin ‘riparius’, which means ‘of the riverbank’. (In fact, in many other countries they are known as bank swallows.)
“They got that Latin name because commonly, in history, they’d have been nesting in riverbanks,” Michael said. “The males would dig the tunnels in the bank and when they’ve done their work, they perch at the entrance and show it off to the girls, and the girls decide ultimately where they’re going to live.”
Sadly, in some parts of the world, these once widespread birds are now in big trouble. In Canada, for instance, 98 percent of sand martins have been lost and authorities have had to introduce a federal programme to restore the population.
Here in Ireland, their numbers have already shrunk to such an extent that they have been moved from the ‘Green list’ of birds of least conservation concern to the ‘Amber list’ of birds of moderate conservation concern. Action is needed now to ensure they don’t slide onto the Red list.
“We have about 50,000 birds returning to Ireland every year, and they nest in river banks, peat banks and cliff faces, and in artificial nesting sites, such as the one we’ve built,” Michael explained. “But the problems that they’re facing are far reaching.”

‘Trouble all around’
These threats include habitat loss, insect decline and climate change, as well as some rather sinister human cruelty. Their habitat loss can be attributed to ever decreasing wilderness, with agriculture, pollution and urban sprawl all contributing.
A single sand martin eats around 1,000 insects a day, but their food is disappearing. “We’ve lost a great deal of our insect population,” Michael explained, “not just in this country but in many parts of the world.
“The journal Nature and Climate Change tells us that 65 percent of insect populations could go extinct within the next 100 years… In recent years, the amount of spraying of insecticide and herbicide has increased dramatically, and that’s bound to be having an effect on the bird population. Maybe we can think about our own personal use of chemicals and whether we actually need to – and let’s take a step back and use less.”
The poor sand martins also have to deal with ‘phenological mismatch’, where insect populations are hatching earlier in the year than they normally do because of global warming and increased temperatures: “When the birds need the insects to feed their chicks, well the insects are no longer around – they’ve moved onto a different stage of their life cycle, or even completed their life cycle.”
Severe weather events tied to climate change are also having an impact on sand martins, especially when they’re migrating. Imagine a tiny bird of just 13g (the weight of three dry tea bags) trying to battle through a hurricane?
On their annual journey from Africa to Ireland, the sand martins must cross the sahara desert. “The desert is actually growing due to climate change,” Michael explained, “and if a sand martin goes without water for two days, it’s in dire trouble. It can easily take them two days to cross the Sahara Desert, or even longer. There’s nowhere for them to land apart from on the hot sand, which doesn’t suit them very well at all. If they could, they’d fly across the desert in one burst. But it’s getting more and more difficult for them to do so.
“Some are now trying to migrate around the Sahara [along a thin strip of vegetation running up the west coast] – but they face a lot of problems there too.
“They roost at night in parts of Africa where locals have planted dense banks of elephant grass. The locals smear these grasses with bird lime, and when the migrating swallows, sand martins and house martins roost in the elephant grass, in the morning they’re all stuck to their perches. The locals go out and pick them off and sell them to fancy restaurants. So they’re beset by trouble all around.”


Pictured at the sand martin wall on Clogher Bog are, from left: Linda Huxley, Michael Kingdon, Cllr Al McDonnell, MCC Heritage Officer Deirdre Cunningham, MCC Biodiversity Officer Sheila Murphy, Chris Huxley and Cllr Michael Kilcoyne. Pic: Alison Laredo

Warm welcome
But in Clogher, a warm welcome awaits those who survive this lengthy, perilous journey. On the Clogher Bog, a small population of sand martins has been there for a long time, ‘as long as anybody knows’. Anecdotal evidence suggests they were once there in much greater numbers.
In 2023, just three pairs attempted to nest in one colony. Sand martins normally nest in colonies of ten pairs or more. “Three pairs is very precarious,” Michael said. “One nest was dug out, probably by a fox, and the contents didn’t survive. Two pairs brought chicks into the world. This year again there are three pairs nesting in a peat bank on the bog. If we don’t do something about it, soon we’ll have none.”
And so the wall. Six feet high and ten feet across, it contains no less than 70 predator-proof nest holes. Expertly built by Jimmy Connor, using plans designed by Lynda Huxley, the wall stands proud on one of the most intact bits of bogland in this part of south Mayo. The site – very generously donated by local landowners David and Mary McDonagh – is full of birdlife, wildflowers and insects. It couldn’t be more perfect.
Constructed from cavity blocks, each nest hole leads to a tunnel that slopes slightly upward (to prevent rain blowing in) and a nesting chamber at the back – mimicking the entrance and nest chamber a sand martin would make itself. Sand was also placed in the nesting chambers, for them to manipulate to a level they desire.
Excitingly, the sand martins are already showing lots of interest. “They excavated some of the sand, so they were modifying the nest chamber,” Michael explained. “We know that because some of the sand was thrown out of the holes, and some is actually still in the tunnels that lead into the nesting chamber. So we know they were active there. Whether or not they nested there, we won’t know until the autumn when we have a good look, by taking the inspection panels off the back of the wall and seeing in.”
The hope is that this wall will become a popular sand martin breeding destination. “If all of the nests were used, that’s around 140-odd adults, and then if they brings their young ones out, that’s 200-odd fledglings. Imagine that cloud of birds flying around the Clogher Bog? People would come from all around to go and look at it. It would be spectacular,” said Michael.
“Thanks to Burren Beo, we were able to build a little pond beside the wall. Local farmer Martin Heneghan did it for us – a fine job. I was there one day, and around 15 sand martins were swooping low on the pond, flying around the wall, landing at the entrance of the holes, having a look in and seeing what was going on – and it really felt quite emotional, like we were achieving something there.”
Each year, the sand martins arrive to our shores before the swallows and house martins, around March 20. Standing at the wall at the end of the launch, a proud and hopeful Michael Kingdon issued an invitation that many will find hard to resist: “Come back in the spring, and watch over it yourselves. When the birds do settle in, it’s going to be just beautiful.”

•  Construction plans for a similar sand martin nesting wall, designed by Lynda Huxley, are available free of charge. For more information, contact Clogher Environmental Group at clogherenvigroup@gmail.com or 094 936 0891.