Visitors asked to help track sand martin nesting

Washington Wetland Centre is hoping to get nesting sand martins for the first time in its history

A nature reserve's visitors are being asked to help track the movement of sand martins around a new artificial bank.

The structure, at Washington Wetland Centre, was built last October in the hope the birds would settle and breed on the site for the first time in its 49-year history.

The centre said signs had been "promising" so far with sand martins spotted taking nesting materials into the chambers.

It is now asking the public to help track the birds' activity to measure the success of the bank.

It has space for 105 nesting pairs and is made up of cavity blocks and a series of holes which the sand martins can fly into. It also has a tunnel and nest chamber.

The survey will help the reserve build a picture of the number of migrating birds going in and out of the chambers and which ones they are using.

The artificial bank was built in October

John Gowland, the centre's reserve manager, said: "By helping us gather this data, people taking part in the citizen survey are a part of the global community, working to protect wetlands and the species that reply upon them."

Sand martins typically hunt and feed over the site’s Wader Lake in spring.

Their previous attempts to dig natural nesting chambers in the banks of the River Wear were unsuccessful.