I've been in my present location in Eastbourne UK since January 2001. Every year I've had a good number of House martins arriving in the spring and nesting until this year. It's almost the middle of June and I've not seen a single one. I fear something terrible has happened to them during their migration, either when they left last year or during their migration back this year.
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Missing House martins. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Raptor 01
- Start date
KenM
Well-known member
They do seem to be much diminished in number, don’t know if ancestral colonies have disbanded and or moved elsewhere?
Locally they seem to have been in decline for some time, also a recent visit to Shropshire seems to bear this out, still on traditional buildings but deserted from others.😩
Update.
I saw two yesterday morning and today I've seen plenty. Looking back at my records, in 2018 and 2019 they arrived in April. I wonder why they are so late this year?
This year (so far) I have seen more sand martins (main location: Hyde Park, Central London) but the house martins have been around as well, and there have been more swifts, I'm pretty sure, than last year. Last Saturday afternoon there were plenty of both species feeding hard at low altitude - marvellous to watch.
I spotted my first martins (couldn't tell which species) on 20th April near the Albert Memorial, and on the 21st definitely noted martins with white rumps over the Serpentine.
I spotted my first martins (couldn't tell which species) on 20th April near the Albert Memorial, and on the 21st definitely noted martins with white rumps over the Serpentine.
davidphilipstafford
New member
I live in north lincs and we have had an abundance of house martins for the last 40 years with nests all over our property. this year i have not seen any, it's very concerning
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Same with Swifts in Nottingham, I saw one pair only during a month there and zero House Martins. The weather was awful nearly all of the time which will mean a lack of airborne insects so no food. Wouldn't be surprised if it was a disastrous year for both species.
Now the swifts mostly seem to have gone, there do seem to be fewer house martins in the Hyde Park area. I think this is at least partly down to nest sites being lost (the Kuwaiti Embassy netted off some areas where they had nested in the facade a few years back). I wish more could be done for both house and sand martins (and swifts) in the London area via man-made sandbanks/walls, artificial nest cups/boxes etc. - I don't think prey/food availability is that much of a problem here as there are fairly large areas where pesticides aren't used, but nest sites are. I hope birds that might have nested in the UK and been deterred by poor weather found places to nest across the Channel, or further south where the weather was more clement, etc.
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I wouldn't put too much sore into what's happened this year. Spring and Summer has been truly appalling with wet cold miserable conditions and many species struggling I imagine- apart from water birds which locally have had a phenomenal year. I've never seen so many young Mallard and Shelduck.
Normally our area in South Cumbria is a hotspot for House Martin, but this year has been abysmal. It's been a one- off hopefully- unless next year the weather is just as bad.
Normally our area in South Cumbria is a hotspot for House Martin, but this year has been abysmal. It's been a one- off hopefully- unless next year the weather is just as bad.
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Frank van Drogen
Not so important
I guess different populations suffer or thrive based on the weather conditions. This year, we had many more House Martins in Central France compared to previous years. Generally, we mostly see Barn Swallows and the occasional House Martin. This year, there were the same amount of Barn Swallows as usual, but many, many more House Martins.
The day before we left France, we saw about 120 of them on an electricity line, where in years before I was impressed if there were more than 10.
The day before we left France, we saw about 120 of them on an electricity line, where in years before I was impressed if there were more than 10.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
I'd image that this is a flock on the move?
