Thu 12 Mar: Firemen's ladder practice helps house martins again !
A big thank you to Jack, Dale, Paul, Stan, Harry and Caspar.
Our fine firemen on their ladder practice last night put up another ten house martin cups in the centre of Charlbury.
There used to be hundreds of house martins visiting Charlbury in the summer and their numbers have plummeted due to climate change, and loss of habitat and insects. We are encouraging the birds to build their colony back by putting up prefabricated nesting cups. In 2023 the house martins came, failed to build their nests and didn't breed. Last Summer we had 14 breeding pairs. Putting up these cups saves the birds a month of nest building freeing them up to more quickly lay eggs and hatch chicks. We need to encourage insects so the chicks have something to eat.
Only with the help of the firemen can we put the cups up, taking advantage of their amazing team work with ladders which can negotiate wonky pavements and tall buildings. Thank you to the Rose and Crown, Cheorl House, 11 Market Street, the Corner House and Wallden House for accommodating the house martin cups. Thank you to our generous sponsors. Thank you to Louise, Patrick and Paul for mentorship and guidance. Fingers are crossed for the end of March/April when the birds hopefully return to us safely.
The photo is Jack up the ladder carefully placing a cup at the Rose and Crown.