From wall watching to nest building
How banking on the success of a wildlife venture has paid off. Tony Henderson reports
It was the wildlife equivalent of watching paint dry.
Volunteers have been “wall watching” at a purpose-built artificial sand martin nesting bank at the mouth of the Ouseburn in Newcastle near the Free Trade Inn.
The structure, with 48 nesting holes to mimic the birds’ natural burrows in sand faces, has been created by Newcastle-based conservation body Wild Intrigue and Northumbrian Water, and was backed by a successful crowdfunding appeal.
The structure was installed after nine pairs of sand martins nested in spaces in an old sandstone wall in 2023 at the Ouseburn in the hope the new addition would help create a nesting colony for the species in the city.
But last year the birds, which fly 4,000km from their wintering grounds in Africa, did not use the facility and volunteers have been taking part in watching shifts at the nesting wall for signs of the birds.
“With people offering to stare at a wall, I wanted them to have some excitement,” said Wild Intrigue’s Heather Devey. “Knowing the sand martins had been active at the Free Trade wall, I assigned those lovely folk to this area.
“Little did I know that the new nest bank would lead to me jumping up and down for joy.
“We are thrilled that the first sand martins have been observed nest building in the artificial nest bank. It was heartwarming to see these birds using the nest bank, and all I could think was how incredible it is that this has been possible thanks entirely to the generosity, kindness, and optimism of so many people.”
This follows alterations to a selection of nesting holes with the help of Northumbrian Water’s conservation advisor, Ian Cole.
On delivery of the bank by a specialist company in March 2025, a recommendation was to fill each hole with sand, to allow the birds to dig as part of their nest building and courtship process.
This is widely documented in natural bank-nesting sand martins, but some studies suggested that urban sand martins may not require this process, and instead prefer existing empty tunnels.
Last year three pairs of sand martins nested in drainage pipes near Dunston Staiths in Gateshead, where the pipes are exactly the same size as those in Ouseburn’s artificial bank and which didn’t contain sand.
Heather said: “We removed some of the sand from a selection of the holes, so that there is a clear passage from the front of the bank to the nesting chamber at the back. We also left a few holes full of sand in case this does happen to be preferred.”
The Ouseburn sand martin bank is now part of Northumbrian Water’s Migratory Birds Project, which will help inform the development of banks at other sites.
The first sandstone wall birds became a big attraction for residents, workers and visitors to the Ouseburn and Newcastle Quayside, and that prompted local community interest nature body Wild Intrigue to launch the crowdfunding appeal to build the artificial 48-chamber sand martin nesting bank, on a private, fenced area opposite Malmo Quay and the Tyne Bar.
The appeal swiftly exceeded its £6,000 target, while Northumbrian Water provided the site for the venture.