SOURCE: Agg-Net | August 19, 2026
MOUNTSORREL Quarry has become one of the largest-known sand martin nesting sites in the UK, after a planned programme of habitat creation helped support record numbers of the birds this breeding season.
The quarry has recorded 420 active sand martin nests this year – around 100 more than last year – following ongoing work by the site team to create a dedicated nesting face for the birds each spring.
Quarry environments can provide the right conditions, but operational sites typically avoid encouraging nesting in active areas as this can limit extraction activity. At Mountsorrel Quarry, the team has taken a different approach by creating a dedicated vertical face away from working areas, allowing the birds to nest undisturbed throughout the breeding season.
The birds’ reliable return every March has also allowed a programme of monitoring and research. In June, a team of volunteers, working under licence from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), visited the quarry to catch and ring birds to help better understand their movements and survival.
In total, 105 birds were caught during the visit. Six already carried rings from previous captures, including some traced back to Rutland Water, which is home to around 900 man-made nests and is considered one of the largest nesting sites in the UK. Some returning birds had first been ringed two or three years ago, helping to show how established the migration route has become.
The BTO is hoping to run a research project at Mountsorrel Quarry in the coming years, with a preliminary study taking place this summer, to estimate the survival rates of adult sand martins. The scheme requires at least 125 adult birds to be caught or re-sighted each breeding season – a threshold the colony comfortably exceeds, with 105 caught during June’s visit alone. Repeat visits over several years would then reveal how the species is faring.
Lead BTO volunteer Eleanor Wilkins said: ‘Our morning at Mountsorrel was fantastic. It was amazing to see so many adult sand martins on the wing at their breeding colony – one of the largest our ringers have worked with. The quarry looks like a great candidate for our study to understand more about how the species is faring, and we’re looking forward to our return visit this summer.’
Scott Green, load-out manager at Mountsorrel Quarry, said: ‘We have provided a nest site for around 20 years. Building the nest is a something we look forward to every March. The team get involved and we are always excited to see the numbers increase year on year. Being able to provide such a natural environment for the birds to thrive and increase in population is something we are very proud of.’
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