Police appeal after vandals destroy birds' nests

Sand martins, which nest in burrows, had been scarce at Nene Wetlands leading to the creation of the artificial banks

Police have appealed for information after vandals destroyed two bird nests and specially-created nesting sites.

The artificial sand banks for sand martins were damaged at Nene Wetlands nature reserve in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire.

The banks cost Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust £3,000 to build three years ago and conservationists were delighted when the birds started to nest there last summer.

The vandals smashed panels off the bank and threw sand-filled nesting tubes in to a lake, which the trust has said "sets back our ambitions" to create a larger sand martin colony.

The vandals ripped panels off the nesting facilities

Matt Johnson, the trust's conservation manager for Northamptonshire, said it had been "very distressing".

"Disturbing a bird nest is a wildlife crime," he said.

"As a wildlife charity, we are here to create space for nature and protect species, so to have to deal with criminal behaviour and harm to birds in this way is quite shocking.

"We hope those responsible will think very hard about what they've done and the loss of these beautiful birds to the Nene Wetlands."

He said the trust would do its best to repair the damage, but it should be looking after different areas of the reserve instead.

Sand martins were once rare at the wetlands, leading to the installation of the facilities at Otter Lake.

The attack has been the latest in a spate of vandalism, with arsonists also twice recently targeting the site, according to the trust.

Nesting tubes were dumped in a lake

PC Emerson Knights, from Northamptonshire Police's rural crime team, said the incident on 24 June was a "mindless act of criminal damage that has harmed defenceless birds and caused a lot of upset for trust staff and visitors".

Sand martins fly from Africa to breed in Europe during the summer and feed on farmland and wetlands along rivers and lakes, according to the RSPB.

They dig burrows in sandy cliffs, river banks and gravel pits to nest in.